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Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Bonaventure

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CONTENTS

PROLOGUE 4

CHAPTER I - ON THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION 6

CHAPTER II - FREEDOM OF MARY FROM THE THREEFOLD WOE OF ACTUAL SIN, FROM THE
THREEFOLD WOE OF ORIGINAL MISERY, AND FROM THE THREEFOLD WOE OF ETERNAL

PUNISHMENT 8

CHAPTER III - THE MEANINGS OF THE NAME MARY 12

CHAPTER IV - THE NAME OF THE BLESSED MARY IS FREE FROM ALL VICE AND 18

RESPLENDENT WITH EVERY VIRTUE 1 8

CHAPTER V - THE GRACE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS TRUE, IMMENSE, MANIFOLD, AND

EXCEEDINGLY USEFUL 22

CHAPTER VI - THE FOURFOLD GRACE IN MARY-OF GIFTS, OF SPEECH, OF PRIVILEGES, AND OF

REWARDS 26

CHAPTER VII - THE NINE PLENITUDES IN MARY, WHICH REPRESENT THE NINE CHOIRS OF THE

ANGELS IN GLORY 32

CHAPTER VIII - MARY SHARES ALL GIFTS WITH THE LORD 37

CHAPTER IX - "THE LORD IS WITH THEE" 40

CHAPTER X - MARY THE DAUGHTER, MOTHER, SPOUSE, AND HANDMAID OF THE LORD 43

CHAPTER XI - MARY FOR HER OWN SAKE AND FOR OURS IS FITLY COMPARED TO THE AURORA

CHAPTER XII - MARY A ROD OR STEM, AND A FLOWERING STEM 52

CHAPTER XIII - MARY COMPARED TO A QUEEN ENTERING INTO THE PALACE WITH THE KING . 56
CHAPTER XIV - MARY IS BLESSED ON ACCOUNT OF HER FULLNESS OF GRACE, THE MAJESTY

OF HER OFFSPRING, THE MULTITUDE OF HER MERCIES, THE GREATNESS OF HER GLORY 59

CHAPTER XV - MARY IS BLESSED BY THE SEVEN VIRTUES AGAINST THE SEVEN CAPITAL VICES

CHAPTER XVI - WHO AND WHAT WAS THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB OF BLESSED MARY 71

CHAPTER XVII - TO WHOM THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB OF THE BLESSED MARY BELONGS, AND TO

WHOM IT IS DUE 76

CHAPTER XVIII - TO WHOM THE RESULTS OF THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB OF MARY ARE
NECESSARY, AND OF ITS TWELVE ADVANTAGES 80

PROLOGUE

There is no doubt, as St. Jerome remarks, that whatever is worthily said of Our Blessed
Mother redounds wholly to the praise and glory of God. Therefore, for the honor and glory
of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and ardently desiring to produce a work which will tend to the
praise of His most glorious Mother, I have judged it fitting to take for the subject-matter of
my treatise the most sweet Salutation of this Blessed Mother. But I acknowledge my utter
insufficiency for such an undertaking. First, because of the sublimity of the subject;
secondly, because of the slenderness of my knowledge; thirdly, because of the aridity of
my speech, and, finally, because of the unworthiness of my life, and the supreme glory
and praiseworthiness of the person whose praises I wish to sing.

For who is there who would not deem that subject incomprehensible of which St. Jerome
does not hesitate to speak as follows: "That which nature possesseth not, which custom
useth not, which eclipseth reason, which the mind of man is unable to compass, which
maketh the heavens tremble, and striketh dumb the earth, which amazeth every inhabitant
of Heaven, all this was divinely announced by Gabriel to Mary, and was fulfilled in Christ."
Therefore I confess myself unworthy to speak of such and so great a heroine. Again I say,
how could my slender knowledge and my dull mind suffice to conceive praises worthy of
Mary, when the illuminated mind of an Anselm faileth in presence of the task? For he
saith: "My tongue faileth, Lady, for my mind is insufficient. Lady, all that is within me burns
that I may render thee thanks for thy so great benefits. But I am unable to conceive worthy
praise, and am ashamed to put forth that which is unworthy."

St. Augustine, addressing Mary, says: "What shall I, so poor in talent, say of thee, when
whatever I may say of thee is less praise than thy dignity deserves ?"

Again, how can my untrained tongue, my arid powers of interpretation not fail in the
praises of Mary, when Augustine, that most eloquent of men, says: "What shall we, so
little, so feeble, say in praise of Mary, when, if all our members were turned into tongues,
no one of us would suffice to praise her?"[1]

Again, if praise in the mouth of a sinner is unbecoming (Eccli. XV, 9), how shall I, a
miserable sinner, a man of most unworthy life--how shall I dare to proclaim the praises of
Mary, when I hear Jerome, a man of such great worth, hesitate ? For he saith: "I fear and
tremble, all the while that I long to fulfill your expectations, lest I should prove to be an
unworthy panegyrist. For there is in me neither sanctity nor eloquence, worthily to praise
the Blessed and glorious Virgin. "[2]

And again: "Why should I add to the sea a small cup of water? Why a stone to a
mountain? And as Mary has already been so adequately praised by the tongues of men
and angels, what can our puny efforts, and especially my own, add to these ?"

Finally, St. Jerome, speaking of Mary, says: "If I am to speak the truth, whatever can be
expressed in human words is less than the praise given by Heaven; for Mary has been
excellently preached and praised by divine and angelic heralds, foretold by prophets, fore-

shadowed by patriarchs, in types and figures, set forth and described by Evangelists,
worthily and officially saluted by Angels. "[3]

Having diligently weighed all these things, pious reader, I must beg your forgiveness for
whatever insufficiency, whatever want of skill appears in this writing of mine. How shall I,
so inefficient, succeed in a task before which Mary's unique and zealous panegyrist, St.
Bernard, quailed? For he saith: "There is nothing which gives me greater delight than to
preach on the glory of the Virgin Mother." And giving his reasons for this delight, he
continues: "For all men honor, embrace, and receive her with the great affection and
devotion that is fitting, yet whatever is said of one so unspeakably sublime, by the very
fact of its being put into words, is less worthy, less pleasing, less acceptable. "[4]

Yet St. Jerome encourages and consoles me, saying: "Although none can be found who is
worthy to praise her, yet let not even the sinner desist from glorifying her with all his
might. "[5]

And St. Augustine, speaking of the manner in which the Son of God bestowed upon His
Mother the gift of fecundity, yet took not away her integrity by being born of her, among
other things says: "We who are so insignificant, cannot suffice to speak of so great a gift of
God; and yet we are compelled to utter her praises, lest, by being silent, we should appear
ungrateful. And certainly, that poor widow who made an offering so pleasing to God with
her two brass mites, should not have withheld that offering because she could not give
more; yea, rather by giving what she could, she pleased God exceedingly."

Hence it is that I, so poor in talent, and equally devoid of knowledge and eloquence, have
presumed to offer to so great a Queen this poor script of mine, that in it, so to speak, as in
a dim mirror, the simpler lovers of this great Queen should in some imperfect manner
perceive who and how great she is. And because this treatise is, as it were, a kind of
mirror which reflects the life, grace, and glory of Mary, it is not unfittingly termed the Mirror
of Mary. Oh, do thou, therefore, my most kind Lady and Mother, graciously accept this
small gift offered to thee by thy poor lover! For with this puny gift, with this small work on
thine own Salutation, I salute thee. On bended knee, with bowed head, with heart and lips,

I salute thee, I wish thee blessing. Hail Mary, etc.

1 . St. Augustine, "De Sanctis," CCVIII, n. 5.

2. St. Jerome, "Epist. ad Paulam et Eustoch."

3. "Epist. cit."

4. "Serm. de Assumpt. B. Mar.," IV.

5. St. Jerome I. c.

CHAPTER I - ON THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb.

HEAR, O most sweet Virgin Mary, hear things new and wonderful! Hearken, O daughter,
and see, and incline thine ear ! Hear that glorious messenger, Gabriel! Hear what is to be
the wonderful mode of thy fecundity! Incline thine ear to a fruitful consent. Hear what is
announced to thee as a certainty by God the Father ! See in what manner the Son of God
is to become Incarnate of thee! Incline thine ear to the Holy Spirit, who is about to operate
within thee ! Because thou hast ears to hear, hear !

And in the beginning of thy hearing, listen to this unheard-of salutation:

Hail Mary. This name, Mary, is not inserted here by Gabriel, but by the devotion of the
faithful, inspired by the Holy Ghost. And the last sentence, blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
was not uttered by Gabriel in his salutation, but was pronounced by Elizabeth in the spirit
of prophecy. Let us each and everyone say, Hail Mary. O truly gracious and venerable, O
truly glorious and admirable salutation! As Bede says: "Inasmuch as it is unheard of in
human experience, so much more is it becoming to the dignity of Mary."

In this sweetest of salutations five sweet phrases are set forth, in which are contained five
sweet prerogatives of the Virgin. Oh, how sweetly are these praises insinuated! For here
is signified how most pure, how most full, how most firm and secure, how most worthy,
how most useful was the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was most pure, because of the
absence of all fault in her; she was most full and abounding, because of the plenitude of
grace in her; she was most firm and secure, because of the Divine Presence within her;
she was most worthy, because of the dignity of her person; she was most useful, because
of the excellence of her Child. How pure Mary was because of the absence of all evil in
her, is well expressed by the word Ave. Rightly is the word Ave addressed to her, who
was ever entirely immune from the "vae" or "woe" of sin. Thus it behooved the Mother of
God to be, as St. Anselm testifies: "It was fitting that the conception of the God-Man
should be of a most pure mother, that the purity of the Virgin-Mother, than which, under
God, there was none greater, should be hers to whom God had designed to give His Only
Son, whom He had begotten, equal to Himself, from His own Heart, that He should so give
Him to her to be at the same time the Son of God and the Son of Man."

Again, how full of grace was Mary by the abounding plenitude of her gifts is well signified
when it is said to her: "Full of grace." And truly full, and ever full, as St. Anselm testifies,
when he most devoutly exclaims: "O Woman full and overfull of grace, of whose
abundance every creature is revived and refreshed." Again, how secure and firm was
Mary by the Divine Presence is well signified by the words, The Lord is with thee. Rightly
is Mary safe and secure, when the Lord is present with her; for the Lord, God the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is with her, so that she is in an especial manner most
intimately connected with God. St. Bernard shows this when he says: "Nor is God the Son
alone with thee, whom thou dost clothe with thy flesh; but also God the Holy Ghost, of

whom thou dost conceive; and God the Father, who hath begotten that which thou
conceivest."

Again, how worthy was Mary, because of the dignity of her person, is well expressed
when she is saluted in the words: Blessed art thou among women! For it could not be that
her person, having been made venerable by such a blessing, was not most worthy.
Therefore, St. Anselm, overcome with amazement, exclaims: "O Blessed and ever
Blessed Virgin, by whose blessing every creature is not only blessed by its Creator, but
the Creator by the creature!" Again, how useful was Mary, by the excellence of her Child,
is well expressed in the words: Blessed is the fruit of thy womb! For she availed to save
the world, having brought forth the most excellent and powerful Fruit of salvation.
Therefore doth the devout St. Anselm say: "By thy fruitfulness, O Lady, the unclean sinner
is justified, the condemned sinner is saved, and the exile is recalled. Thy Son, O Lady,
redeemed the captive world, healed the sick, and raised the dead to life."

You see, therefore, dearly beloved, in what manner Mary, because of her immunity from
guilt, is rightly saluted with the Ave. Because of the abundance and immensity of her
grace, she is rightly saluted as full of grace; because of the Divine Presence within her,
and her intimacy with Our Lord, she is told: The Lord is with thee; because of the dignity
and reverence of her person, she is rightly saluted as blessed among women; because of
the excellence and utility of her Child, it is fittingly said to her: Blessed is the fruit of thy
womb. We shall now treat of each of these points in order.

CHAPTER II - FREEDOM OF MARY FROM THE THREEFOLD WOE OF ACTUAL SIN,
FROM THE THREEFOLD WOE OF ORIGINAL MISERY, AND FROM THE THREEFOLD
WOE OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

Hail Mary, full of grace. Let us all utter this good and sweet word Ave, by which our
redemption from eternal woe was begun. Let each one of us, I say, utter it; let all utter it
most devoutly, saying: Ave Maria, Ave, Ave, and again a thousand times, Ave! Behold,
Ave is said to the most holy Virgin Mary because of her absolute immunity from any fault;
because of her perfect innocence and purity of life; rightly is Ave said to her in the very
beginning of her salutation, Ave indeed and without woe ("a" or "absque vae").

We must consider that the "vae" or woe, from which she is entirely immune, is threefold.
There is the woe of guilt, misery, and hell. There is the woe of actual sin, of original
misery, and the woe of the punishment or pain of hell. Of these three woes we may not
unfitly understand what we read in the Apocalypse. "I heard," says John, "the voice of one
eagle flying through the midst of heaven, and saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to
the inhabitants of the earth!" Behold how each of these woes is multiplied by three, so that
all together we have nine woes, against which Ave is rightly said to Mary. For there are
three faults, three miseries, three hells in this woe, for the absence of which Mary is rightly
saluted by the Ave.

First, the woe of guilt is threefold, i. e., the woe of the guilt of the heart, of the guilt of the
lips, and of the guilt of deeds. On account of these three woes it may be said: "Woe, woe,
woe to the inhabitants of the earth!" Woe, therefore, to sinners because of the guilt of the
heart, as it is said in Isaias: "Woe to you who are of a deep heart, that ye hide counsel
from the Lord." Woe, indeed, to those who are of a deep heart unto evil, for the deep
hearts of evil-doers are haunts of the devils, and sepulchers full of the filth of vice. Woe,
therefore, to them, as is said in St. Matthew: "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, who are like to whited sepulchers, which appear outwardly to men fair, but
within are full of dead men's bones, and of all abominations." Oh, how far from this woe
was the most innocent heart of Mary, as St. Bernard says: "Mary had no fault of her own,
and far from her most innocent heart was repentance." Of what could the heart of Mary
repent when she had never admitted into it anything worthy of penance? Therefore, her
pure heart was not the haunt of the devil, nor the sepulcher of vice. Rather, it was a
garden and a paradise of the Holy Ghost, according to that word of the Canticle of
Canticles: "A garden enclosed is my Sister, my Spouse. "--"A garden," says St. Jerome, "a
garden of delights, in which were planted the seeds of all virtues, and the perfume of
virtue." Because Mary was far from this woe of guilt, therefore it is rightly said to her: Ave.

Again, woe to sinners because of the guilt of the lips, as it is said in Isaias: "Woe to you
who call evil good, and good evil." Woe to these, woe to all who sin by the lips, as is said
in the Psalms: "The poison of asps is under their lips." Oh, how far from this woe was the
most innocent mouth of Mary! Therefore Blessed Ambrose says: "There was nothing evil
in the eyes of Mary; nothing prolix in her words, nothing forward in her deeds." On the lips
of Mary there was nothing of the gall and poison of the devil, but the honey and milk of the
Holy Ghost, according to the word of the Canticles: "Thy lips are as the dropping

honeycomb, my Spouse; honey and milk are under thy tongue." Had not Mary on her lips
this most pure milk when she uttered that most chaste word: "Behold the handmaid of the
Lord"? Because the woe of the guilt of the lips was so entirely absent from Mary, therefore
is she rightly saluted with Ave.

Again, there is woe to sinners because of the guilt of their deeds, as it is said in
Ecclesiasticus (II, 14): "Woe to the double heart and the wicked lips, and to the hands that
do evil." Woe to the double heart, for the guilt of the heart; woe to the wicked lips, for the
guilt of the lips; woe to the hands that do evil, for the guilt of their deeds. Oh, how far
removed from such a woe was every deed of Mary and the whole of her life! Therefore St.
Bernard saith: "It behooved the Queen of Virgins, by a singular privilege of sanctity, to
lead a life entirely free from sin, that while she ministered to the Destroyer of death and
sin, she should obtain the gift of life and justice for all."

Note that never did she contract the least stain either in thought, word, or deed, so that the
Lord could truly say to her: "Thou art all fair, O my beloved, and there is no spot in thee."
So, therefore, the most innocent and holy Mary was without woe in thought, word, and
deed, and therefore is it said to her, Ave.

Secondly, we must consider that Mary was not only free from the threefold woe of actual
guilt, but also from the threefold woe of original misery, i.e., from the misery of them that
are born, from the misery of them that bring forth, and from the misery of them that die.

The woe of the misery of being born is the woe of the weakness of concupiscence; the
woe of them that bring forth is the woe of the pains of travail; the woe of the dying is the
misery of being reduced to dust and ashes. Because of these three woes is it said to the
inhabitants of the earth: "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth!" The woe of those
who are born is the woe of the fuel of sin which is born in us, by which, according to our
original corruption, we are so weak unto good and so prone to evil; so that each one is
born with the "fomes peccati," and by this is weak and wounded, and can truly say with
Jeremias: "Woe is me for my destruction, my wound is very grievous. But I said, truly this
is my own evil, and I will bear it" (Jer. X, 19.) But alas! not only is there in those that are
born weakness and misery, inclining them, when adults, to actual sin; but also the woe of
stain and of guilt, bringing them even as little infants under the wrath of God. Therefore
the Apostle saith: "All are born children of wrath" (Eph. II, 3.) Oh, how far from this woe of
them that are born was the most holy Nativity of Mary, who was not only free from original
sin, but also from the fuel of misery, in so far as it leads to sin, for she was conceived
without stain. Because the Nativity of Mary was so far removed from this woe, she is
saluted by Ave.

Again, the misery of them that bring forth is that original curse pronounced against Eve,
"Thou shalt bring forth children in sorrow" (Gen. Ill, 16.) On account of this woe it may be
said to all who bring forth what the Lord said to some amongst them: "Woe to them that
are with child and bring forth in those days" (Matt. XXIV, 19.) Oh, how far from this woe
was Mary when she conceived and brought forth, as St. Augustine testifies, saying: "Oh,
how blessed is that Mother who without stain conceived Purity, and without pain brought

forth Healing." Because she was so far from this woe of them that bring forth, therefore is
Mary saluted with Ave.

Again, the misery of them that die is the woe of dissolution into dust, which was imposed
upon man when it was said to the sinner: "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return"
(Gen. Ill, 19.) Hence of those that are born and those that die, can be said that word of
Ecclesiasticus: "Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the most high
Lord, and if you be born, you shall be born in malediction: and if you die, in malediction
shall be your portion" (Eccli. XLI, 1 1 f.)

Certainly both just and unjust are born under the curse of concupiscence, and in danger of
being reduced to dust; yet to the impious alone is this curse particularly addressed, for
their concupiscence is more deadly and their dissolution into dust more odious; and to the
wicked their evil inclinations are more hurtful, and the remembrance of their future
dissolution is more bitter, than to the just. Oh, how far from this dissolution was the body
of Mary, as we universally believe. For this body was the most holy Ark of God, to which
corruption was unbecoming, but which, according to the likeness of her Son, should rise
again, before any taint of corruption could infect it. Whence it is both of the Son and the
Mother that the Prophet saith: "Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the Ark of Thy
sanctification" (Ps. CXXXI, 8.) This Ark was made of incorruptible wood, because the flesh
of Mary never became corrupted. Therefore St. Augustine well says: "The heavens were
more worthy to preserve so glorious a treasure than the earth, and rightly incorruptibility
followed on integrity, and not any dissolution or corruption." As Mary was entirely free from
the misery of them that are born, so also was she from the woe of the dying, and rightly is
she saluted by Ave.

Thirdly, we have to consider that Mary was not only immune from the threefold woe of
actual guilt, and from the threefold woe of original sin; but also from the threefold pain of
hell. This threefold woe consists in the greatness, the multitude, and the duration of the
punishments.

Woe, therefore, to the damned and to those who will be damned, because of the
greatness, the multitude, and the duration of their torments! "Woe, woe, woe to the
inhabitants of the earth!" First, there is the greatness of the torments, as Ezechiel saith:
"Woe to the bloody city, of which I will make a great bonfire" (Ezech. XXIV, 9.) The bloody
city is the multitude of the impious, of whom there will be an immense bonfire made in the
great conflagration of the damned. Oh, how far removed from this woe of greatness of
torment was the greatness of the grace and glory of Mary, for whom, instead of the
grievous torments of hell, was prepared by God so great a glory in Heaven, and as she
was great and garbed in merit, so is she great in her reward. She herself is that great
throne of which it is said: "King Solomon also made a great throne of ivory" (3 Kings X, 8.)
Mary is the Throne of Solomon, great in grace and glory. St. Bernard well says: "As much
more grace than others as Mary obtained on earth, so great a degree of singular glory did
she gain in Heaven." Rightly, therefore, is it said to her, Ave. There is also the multitude of
the pains of hell. Isaias says: "Woe to their souls, for evil things are rendered to them" (Is.
Ill, 9.) He says, evil things, in the plural, because there are many, yea, infinite evils

rendered to evil-doers in hell. But to Mary, in contradistinction to the many evils prepared
for the damned in hell, God hath prepared many good things in Heaven. No angel, no
saint, can equal her in the multitude and accumulation of heavenly good things, as the
Book of Proverbs says: "Many daughters have gathered together riches, thou hast
surpassed them all." If we understand these daughters to be human souls or angelic
intelligences, has she not surpassed the riches of the virgins, of the confessors, of the
martyrs, of the Apostles, of the prophets, of the patriarchs, and of the angels, when she
herself is the first-fruit of the virgins, the mirror of confessors, the rose of martyrs, the ruler
of Apostles, the oracle of prophets, the daughter of patriarchs, the queen of angels? What
is wanting to her of the riches of all these? St. Jerome says: "If you look diligently at Mary,
there is nothing of virtue, nothing of beauty, nothing of splendor or glory which does not
shine in her."

Now the pains of hell consist also in their perpetuity. In the Epistle of St. Jude it is said:
"Woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain and after the error of Balaam, and
have perished in the contradiction of Core." And a little further on: "to whom the storm of
darkness is preserved forever" (Jude XI, 12.) Note that he says, forever, and think how
great is the duration of these pains and of the darkness which will have no end. But
against this eternal darkness in hell the Lord has prepared for Mary eternal light in
Heaven, so that, as the sinful soul, the throne of the devil, will be miraculously dark
forever, Mary, the Mediatrix, the throne of Christ, will be marvelously luminous forever
according to the Psalm: "Her throne is as the sun in my sight, and as the moon perfect for
ever" (Ps. LXXXVIII, 38.)

Thus, therefore, as the Most Blessed Virgin Mary was free from the threefold woe of hell,
yea, from all the nine woes, rightly is it said to her, Ave. Let every one of us salute her with
Ave, and let us petition her that, through her own sweet Ave, she will pray that we may all
be delivered from every woe by our Lord Jesus Christ, her Son.

CHAPTER III - THE MEANINGS OF THE NAME MARY

Ave Maria. As we have said above, this name was inserted here not by the Angel, but by
the devotion of the faithful. The Blessed Evangelist Luke says significantly: "And the name
of the Virgin was Mary" (Luke I, 27.) This most holy, sweet, and worthy name was
eminently fitting to so holy, sweet, and worthy a virgin. For Mary means a bitter sea, star
of the sea, the illuminated or illuminatrix. Mary is interpreted lady. Mary is a bitter sea to
the demons; to men she is the star of the sea; to the angels she is illuminatrix, and to all
creatures she is lady.

Mary is interpreted: "a bitter sea"; this is excellently suited to her power against the
demons. Note in what way Mary is a sea, and in what way she is bitter, and how she is at
once a sea and bitter. Mary is a sea by the abundant overflow of her graces; and Mary is a
bitter sea by submerging the devil. Mary is indeed a sea by the superabounding Passion
of her Son; Mary is a bitter sea by her power over the devil, in which he is, as it were,
submerged and drowned.

Consider, first, that Mary is called a sea because of the abundance of her graces. It is
written in Ecclesiasticus: "All rivers flow into the sea" (I, 7.) The rivers are the graces of the
Holy Ghost, wherefore Jesus saith: "He who believeth in Me, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water." This He said of the Spirit, which they were about to receive (John
VII, 38.) All the rivers flow into the sea because the graces of all the saints flow into Mary.
For the river of the grace of the angels enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the
patriarchs enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the Apostles enters into Mary;
and the river of the grace of the martyrs enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the
confessors enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the virgins enters into Mary. All
rivers enter into the sea, that is, all graces enter into Mary. Therefore, she above all can
say that word of Ecclesiasticus: "In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, and in me is
all hope of life and of virtue" (XXIV, 25.) What wonder if all grace flowed into Mary, through
whom such grace flowed forth upon all ! For St. Augustine says: "Mary, thou art full of
grace, which thou hast found with the Lord and hast merited to pour forth upon the whole
world."

Consider, secondly, that Mary in the Passion of her Son was filled with bitterness when
the sword of sorrow passed through her soul. Well could she say with Ruth: "Call me not
Noemi, that is fair, but call me Mara, that is bitter, for the Most High hath filled me
exceedingly with bitterness" (Ruth I, 20.) Noemi, who was at once beautiful and bitter,
signified Mary, beautiful indeed by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, but bitter by the
Passion of her Son.

The two sons of Mary are the God-Man, in His Divinity, and man, in his humanity. Mary is
the Mother of one in the body, of the other in the spirit. Wherefore St. Bernard saith: "Thou
art the Mother of the King, thou art the Mother of the exile; thou art the Mother of God, the
Judge, and thou art the Mother of God and of man; as thou art the Mother of both, thou
canst not bear discord between thy two sons." St. Anselm exclaims: "O blessed
confidence, O safe refuge, Mother of God and our Mother!" The two sons of Mary were

both slain in the Passion; the one in body, the other in mind; the one by the bitter death of
the cross, the other by infidelity of mind. And, therefore, Mary's soul was filled with
exceeding bitterness, as St. Augustine testifies, saying: "That loving Mother crying out with
intensity of pain, beating her enfeebled breast, had so fatigued her body and all its
members, that, tottering in her walk, she could scarcely drag herself to the obsequies of
Christ." Thou seest now how Mary was a sea of the Holy Spirit; thou seest in what manner
she was a bitter sea in the death of her Son.

Thirdly, consider that Mary is a bitter sea to the devil and to his angels, oppressed by him,
as the Red Sea was bitter to the Egyptians submerged in it, of whom we read in Exodus:
"The Lord drew back upon them the waters of the sea" (Ex. XV, 1 9.) Oh, how bitter and
full of fear is this sea to the Egyptians! Oh, how bitter and full of fear is this Mary to the
demons! Therefore, St. Bernard saith: "Visible enemies fear not so greatly an immense
multitude of hosts in battle array, as the powers of the air fear the name, the patronage,
and the example of Mary; they flow and melt like wax before the fire, wherever they find
frequent recollection of this holy name, devout invocation of Mary, and diligent imitation of
her. Thou seest now in what manner Mary is a sea by the abundance of her overflowing
graces, how she is bitter by the vehemence of the Lord's Passion, and how to the devils
Mary is a bitter sea by the power she has of quelling them.

Now we must consider how Mary is interpreted "Star of the sea." This name is most
suitable to Mary, for she fulfills the office that a star does to mariners at sea. We read, and
it is true, that sailors, when they propose to sail to some distant land, choose a star by
whose guiding light they may, without going astray, make their way to the land of their
desire. Such is certainly the office of Mary, our Star, who directs those who sail through
the sea of the world in the ship of innocence or penance, to the shore of the heavenly
country. Well, therefore, doth Innocent say: "By what aids can ships pass among so many
dangers to the shore of the fatherland? Certainly," he replies, "chiefly by two. By the wood
and by the star; that is, by faith in the Cross, and by virtue of the light which Mary, the Star
of the sea, hath brought forth for us." Very properly is Mary compared to a star of the sea,
because of her purity, her radiance, and her utility. For Mary is a most pure star, a most
radiant star, and a most useful star. She is a most pure star by living most purely; a most
radiant star by bringing forth eternal light; a most useful star by directing us to the shores
of our true home country.

First consider that Mary is a most pure star by living purely and without sin. Therefore doth
Wisdom say of her: "She is more beautiful than light, than the sun, and above all the
arrangement of the stars, and being compared to light, she is found more pure." Some
read here, "before" instead of "more pure," but either phrase is fitted to our Star. For Mary
is indeed prior, or before, that is, she is most worthy, most great; Mary is purer than the
sun, and the stars, and the light. For both in dignity and purity she surpasses the sun, the
stars, and the light, yea, even every spiritual and angelic creature, of whom it is said: "God
divides light from darkness," that is, the angels who stood firm from those who fell. Mary is
prior to and purer than this angelic light. Hence Saint Anselm exclaims: "O Blessed among
women, who surpassest the angels in purity, and the saints in piety!" Behold how Mary is
a most pure Star by the purity of her life.

Secondly, consider that Mary is a most radiant star by emitting eternal light and bringing
forth the Son of God. For she is that star of whom it is said in Numbers: "A star shall rise
out of Jacob, and a rod shall arise in Israel." The rod is the Son of God, who is the ray of
Mary, our star; this is that ray of whom it is sung: "As the ray of a star." St. Bernard says:

"A ray from a star does not diminish its brightness, neither does the Son of the Virgin
lessen the virginity of His Mother." O most truly blessed, O most truly radiant Star, Mary,
whose ray has penetrated not only the world, but also Heaven, and even hell, as St.
Bernard says: "She is that glorious and beautiful Star arisen out of Jacob, whose ray
illuminateth the whole world, whose splendor shines forth in the highest, and penetrates
even into hell." As Mary was a most pure star, by living most purely, so is she a most
radiant one, by bringing forth the Son of God.

Thirdly, consider that Mary is a most useful star, by guiding us to our heavenly country, by
leading us through the sea of this world to the grave of her Son, as to the gates of
Paradise. She is as that radiant star which led the Magi most surely to Christ. Mary is that
star which in the waves of the present life is most necessary to us. St. Bernard says: "Turn
not away thine eyes from the splendor of this star, if thou wilt not be overwhelmed by
storms. If the winds of temptation arise, if thou strikest on the rocks of temptation,
tribulation, look upon the star, call on Mary." Therefore, lest thou shouldst be submerged
in the sea of this world, follow the star, imitate Mary. It is the safest of paths to follow her,
as St. Bernard says: "Following her, thou strayest not, praying to her, thou shalt never
despair; thinking of her, thou shalt never err; if she upholdeth thee, thou shalt not fall;
under her protection thou shalt not fear; if she is thy guide, thou shalt not grow weary; with
her favor thou shalt attain thy end; and so in thyself thou shalt experience how truly it is
said: And the name of the virgin was Mary."

Mary is also interpreted illuminatrix or lightgiver. For this virgin was wonderfully illuminated
by the presence of the Lord, according to that word of the Apocalypse: "I saw another
angel coming down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was enlightened by
the glory of him.... The Son of God is the Angel of Great Counsel; the earth illuminated by
the glory of Him is Mary, who, as she was illuminated by His grace in the world, is now
illuminated by His glory in Heaven, that, being thus illuminated, she may become a light-
giver in the world and in Heaven. Therefore, we must consider that Mary, the illuminated,
is a light-giver by her example, her benefits, and her rewards. She giveth light by the
example of her life, by the benefits of her mercy, and by the rewards of her glory.

Mary is the light-giver by the example of her most luminous life. For it is she who by her
glorious life giveth light to the world. She it is whose glorious life enlightens all the
churches. She is the lamp of the Church, enkindled by God for this very purpose that by
her the Church might be enlightened against the darkness of the world. Let the Church,
therefore, pray, let the faithful soul pray: "For Thou lightest my lamp, O Lord, my God,
enlighten my darkness." The Lord hath lit this lamp most radiantly, and by this light he puts
to flight the darkness of our souls. St. Bernard felt this when he said: "O Mary, by the
magnificent example of thy virtues thou stirrest us up to the imitation of thee, and thus

dost enlighten our night. For he who walketh in thy ways, walketh not in darkness, but has
the light of life."

Secondly, consider how Mary is light-giver by the benefits of her gracious mercy, by which
so many in the night of this world are spiritually illuminated, as the Israelites in olden days
were by a pillar of fire, according to the Psalm: "Thou didst lead them forth in a pillar of
cloud." Mary is to us a pillar of cloud, for she protects us like a cloud from the fiery heat of
the divine indignation. She also protects us from the heat of diabolical temptation, as it is
also said in the Psalm, "He spread a cloud."

Mary is a pillar of fire. What would become of us wretched beings, so full of darkness, in
the light of this world, if we had not so lucid a lamp, so luminous a pillar ? What would
become of the world without the sun ? St. Bernard says: "Take away this lightsome body,
the sun, what will give light to the world, and where is day? Take away Mary, this Star of
the Sea, and what remains save an enveloping cloud, the shadow of death, and the
densest darkness?" Thou hast seen how Mary is a lightgiver by her most transcendently
luminous life, thou shalt now see how Mary is an illuminatrix by her most resplendent
mercy.

Thirdly, consider that Mary is also illuminatrix by her most resplendent glory, which
illuminates the whole of Heaven, as the sun doth the world, according to Ecclesiasticus:
"The sun giving light hath looked upon all things, and full of the glory of the Lord is his
work" (XLII, 16.) The work of the Lord is full of His glory; the most excellent work of the
Lord is Mary. This work, as it was full of the grace of the Lord in this world, is full of the
glory of the Lord in Heaven. Thus, therefore, Mary, giving light by her glory, hath looked
upon all things, because through all the angels and all the saints she spreadeth the
illumination of her glory. What wonder if the presence of Mary illuminates the whole of
Heaven, who also doth illuminate the whole earth? For St. Bernard saith . "The presence
of Mary lights up the whole world, and the very heavenly country itself glows more brightly
from being irradiated by the splendor of that virginal lamp." So thou seest how Mary is
illuminatrix by her light-giving life and also by her resplendent glory.

Now we have to consider how Mary is interpreted "lady." Such a title well becometh so
great an empress, who is in very deed the sovereign lady of the inhabitants of Heaven, of
the dwellers upon earth and in hell. She is, I say, the Lady of angels, the Lady of men, the
Lady Sovereign in Heaven, on earth, and in hell.

First, consider that Mary is the Lady of angels; for it was she who was foreshadowed by
the Lady Esther, of whom we read that she leaned delicately on one of her handmaids,
and another maid followed her mistress, bearing up the train of her garment. By Esther the
Queen we understand Mary our Queen; the two servants, the lady of whom is Mary our
Queen, are all creatures, men and angels. Oh, what a joy to us miserable men that the
angels have their Lord and their Lady from among us men. Truly is Mary Queen of the
Angels. St. Augustine, addressing her, says: "If I call thee heaven, thou art higher. If I call
thee the mother of nations, thou art above this praise. If I style thee Lady of angels, thou
art truly proved to be so; if I call thee the type or form of God, thou art worthy of this

name." Now the soul of man is the handmaid who in this world follows its Lady, Mary. It
follows her, bearing up the train of the garment of its Lady, that is, gathering up the virtues
and the example of Mary. But the angelic intelligences are the handmaids on whom Mary,
their Lady, as it were, leans in Heaven. She leans upon them by familiarly associating with
them; she leans upon them most delicately by taking her delight in them; she leans upon
them most fully and entirely by communicating herself in her plenitude to the angels; she
leans upon them as one most powerful by commanding them. Mary leans upon all the
angels by her power. St. Augustine says: "Michael, the prince and leader of the heavenly
militia, with all his ministering spirits obeyeth, O Virgin, thy commands; by defending in the
body and by receiving the souls of the faithful, especially by presenting to thee, O Lady,
those who day and night commend themselves to thee."

Now consider how Mary is the Lady of men in this world. Of this Lady it is said in the
Psalm: "As the eyes of the handmaid ,are on the hands of her mistress," etc. The
handmaid of the Lady Mary is every human soul, yea, the universal Church. The eyes of
this handmaid should be ever on the hands of her mistress, for the eyes of the Church, the
eyes of every one of us, should always look upon the hands of Mary, so that by her hands
we may receive some good, and that we may offer to the Lord, by those same hands,
whatever good we do." For it is by the hands of this Lady we have whatever good we
possess, as St. Bernard testifies, saying: "God would have us obtain nothing which did not
pass through the hands of Mary." By the hands of this Lady we should also offer to God
whatever good we do, as St. Bernard exhorts, saying: "What little thou offerest, take care
to commend it to those hands most pleasing and worthy of all acceptance, the hands of
Mary, if thou wouldst not be repulsed. Well for us, beloved, it is indeed well for us, that we
have such a Lady, who hath towards us such liberal hands, and is so powerful for us with
her Son, that every one of us may have secure access to her." The devout Anselm saith:
"O great Lady, to whom the joyful multitude of the just giveth thanks, to whom fleeth the
terrified crowd of evil-doers, to thee, O all-powerful and merciful Lady, I, an anxious
sinner, have recourse."

Thirdly, consider how Mary is the Lady of the demons in hell, so powerfully subjugating
them that of her we may understand that saying of Psalm 100: "The rod of his power the
Lord shall send forth." The rod of power is the Virgin Mary. She is the rod of Aaron,
flowering by her virginity and fruitful by her fecundity. She is that rod of which it is said in
Isaias: "There shall spring forth a rod from the root of Jesse." This rod is the Virgin Mary, a
rod of power against the infernal enemies, whom she dominates by her great power. So
great a Lady, of such great power, deserves to be loved by us, to be praised by us, to be
prayed to by us, that she may protect us against our enemies. St. Anselm gives us the
example, when, speaking to this Lady, he says: "Thee, O Lady so very great, my heart
desireth to love, my mouth to praise, my mind longeth to venerate, my soul desireth to
beseech, because the whole of my being commends itself to thy protection."

Now thou seest how Mary is the Lady of angels in Heaven, of men in this world, and of the
demons in hell. Also how Mary is a bitter sea, the Star of the Sea, the Light-giver, the
Lady. Mary is the Star of the sea to converted men; she is the Light-giver to the faithful
angels; she dominates all creatures.

Let us pray, let us pray most devoutly to Mary and say: "O Mary, Bitter Sea, help us, that
we may be plunged into the bitter sea of penance! O Mary, Star of the Sea, help us, that
we may be guided rightly through the sea of this world! O Mary, Lightgiver, help us, that
we may be eternally illumined in glory! O Lady Mary, help us that by thy government and
empire we may be filially governed. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."

CHAPTER IV - THE NAME OF THE BLESSED MARY IS FREE FROM ALL VICE AND
RESPLENDENT WITH EVERY VIRTUE

Hail Mary. This most sweet and affectionate name, so full of grace and so noble, so
glorious and so worthy, excellently befits Our Lady. For most fittingly is so loving a virgin
named Mary. For she is Mary, in whom there is no vice, and who is glorious with every
virtue. She is Mary, who was entirely immune from the seven capital sins. She was most
humble in opposition to pride; most loving by charity in opposition to envy; most meek
against anger by her gentleness; indefatigable by her diligence against sloth; Mary by her
poverty was detached against avarice; against gluttony she was most sober by her
temperance; against lust she was most chaste by her virginity. We can gather all these
things from the Scriptures, in which we find the name of Mary written.

First, Mary was most humble. She is that Mary of whom St. Luke says: "And Mary said,
'Behold the handmaid of the Lord' " (I, 38.) O wonderful and profound humility of Mary!
Behold the archangel speaks to Mary; Mary is called full of grace; the overshadowing of
the Holy Spirit is announced; Mary is made Mother of God; Mary is set before all
creatures; Mary is made the Lady of Heaven and earth; and for all that she is not the least
elated, but in all she is deeply grounded in humility, saying: "Behold the handmaid of the
Lord." Well, therefore, doth Bede say: "Mary never exalted herself by reason of heavenly
gifts; as she became more and more acquainted with heavenly mysteries, she fixed her
mind more firmly in humility, answering the Angel, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord.' This
is an example to many, who in honors and prosperity, in graces and virtues, do not
humble themselves with Mary and with Christ, but grow elated with pride like Eve and
Lucifer. But the humility of Mary was most certainly not in word only, but also manifested
itself in deeds; not alone in the word of her official reply, but in the fact of her submitting to
the legal purification; not alone in the word by which she humbled herself as a submissive
handmaid, but also in the deed by which she humbled herself as guilty and a sinner. For
she is that Mary of whom it is said in St. Luke: 'After the days of her purification . . . were
accomplished.' O hard, unhappy pride! O proud and unhappy hardness of the sinner!
Behold Mary, who is without all sin, submitted herself to the law of purification, and thou, a
wretch full of sins, submittest not to the law of satisfaction."

See how Mary was most loving by her charity. For she is that Mary of whom St. Luke
saith: "Mary rising up with haste, went into the hill country." She went that she might visit,
and salute, and minister to Elizabeth. See how this visitation of Mary was full of charity. In
the description of that visit Mary is four times named and her charity towards God and
towards her neighbor is most fully declared. Charity to our neighbor should be kept and
cherished in the heart, in word and in deed. Mary had charity to her neighbor in her heart,
and therefore, arising, Mary went with haste into the hill country. What was it that urged
her on to haste in this office of charity but the love that burned in her heart? We read that
the shepherds came with haste to the crib; that Mary went with haste to render a service;
and that Zacheus made haste to come down and receive the Lord into his house. Woe,
therefore, to those who are tardy in works of charity! Mary, again, cherished charity to her
neighbor in her words; she is that Mary of whom it is said: "When Elizabeth heard the
salutation of Mary." Charity in greeting our neighbor and on all other occasions of

charitable speech is, I say, to be cultivated. The Angel salutes Mary; Mary saluted
Elizabeth; the Son of Mary saluted those whom He met coming forth from the sepulcher,
saying to them: "Avete, All hail!" Woe to those who, out of hatred or dislike, deny to their
neighbor greetings of politeness. Woe to those who deceitfully salute their neighbor like
Judas, when he said: "Hail, Rabbi!" Oh, how sweetly did Mary know how to salute! O
Mary, deign to greet us by thy grace! And most certainly she willingly salutes us by her
benefits and her consolation, if we willingly greet her with Ave Maria. Mary not only had
charity in her heart and in her words, but she also exercised herself in charitable deeds.
For she is that same Mary of whom it is said: "Mary remained with her about three
months." She remained for the service and the consolation of Elizabeth. Therefore St.
Ambrose saith: "She who came out of charity, remained at her post." As Mary in all things
had charity for her neighbor, so above all things she had charity towards God. For she is
that same Mary who said: "My soul doth magnify the Lord." The soul magnifies that which
it loves and rejoices in. Therefore, the soul of Mary most befittingly magnified God and
most securely rejoiced in God, because she so ardently loved God. Of this love Master
Hugh of St. Victor saith a good word: "Because the love of the Holy Spirit burned in a
singular manner in her heart, therefore the power of the Holy Ghost did wonderful things in
her flesh."

Thirdly, see how Mary was most meek by gentleness, most patient in all adversity. For
she is that same Mary to whom it is said, according to St. Luke: "And he (Simeon) said to
Mary His Mother: Behold this Child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in
Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted, and thine own soul a sword shall pierce."
This sword signifies the bitter Passion and death of her Son. The material sword cannot
kill or wound the soul, so the sharp Passion of Christ, although by compassion it pierced
the soul of Mary, never dealt it a mortal wound. For Mary never killed the executioners of
her Son by hatred nor wounded them by impatience. Now, if other martyrs were most
patient in their bodily martyrdom, how much more so was our martyr, Mary, in her spiritual
martyrdom? Of her noble martyrdom St. Jerome saith: "O marvelous patience and
meekness of Mary, who was not only most patient while her Son was crucified in her
presence, but also before the crucifixion, when her Son was reviled, as it is said in the
Gospel of St. Mark, 'Is not this the Son of the carpenter and of Mary?' and a little further
on: 'And they were scandalized in Him.' "Truly is Christ a carpenter, but the works of His
hands are the sun and the aurora. Alas, how far from the grace of Mary most meek are
they who are so peevish, so impatient, so irritable as to torment their neighbors,
companions, and fellow workers.

Fourthly, see how untiring and diligent Mary was by her assiduity in good works. For she
is that Mary of whom it is said: "They were all persevering in prayer in one mind, with the
women, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus" (Acts I, 14.) Mary, by persevering indefatigably in
prayer, gave an example, which it behooves us to follow, and not to faint. And if Mary
prayed so sedulously on earth, why should she not pray most earnestly for us in Heaven?

Therefore St. Augustine well doth admonish us, saying: "Let us with all earnestness
implore the patronage of Mary: that while we serve her on earth with suppliant ardor, she
by her fervent prayer may deign to help us from Heaven." But see, our Mary was not only

untiring and most diligent in the prayer of the lips, but also most earnest in holy
meditations of the heart. For she is that same Mary of whom it is said in the Gospel of St.
Luke: "Mary kept all these words, pondering in her heart" (Luke II, 19.) Mary was never
idle or slothful, and therefore she not only occupied her mind in holy meditations, and her
tongue in devout prayers, but also her hands in good works.

It was thus that Mary remained three months with Elizabeth. To what purpose? Bede
answers: "That the virgin might render diligent service to her aged relative." Alas, how
unlike Mary is the wretched sluggard whose mind, hands, and tongue are so often devoid
of merit!

Fifthly, see how detached Mary was by her poverty. For she is that same Mary of whom it
is said: "They found Mary, and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger" (Luke II, 16.)
The poor shepherds found the poor Mother, Mary, and the poor Infant in the poor spot, not
in splendid pomp, but in a poor manger. But if the Mother had not been poor, she would
indeed have found fitting hospitality. While you diligently consider these things, you may
realize how great was the poverty of Mary, of which St. John Chrysostom says: "See the
greatness of the poverty of Mary, and whoever is poor, may receive thence great
consolation."

Most certainly, whoever is poor willingly and freely for God's sake, or who is poor of
necessity, yet patiently, can be much consoled by the poverty of Mary, and of Jesus
Christ. Far from this consolation are those rich men who seek things so very different.
Therefore Our Savior saith: "Woe to you rich who have here your consolation" (Luke VI,
24.)

But the rich must not despair, because not only the poor shepherds, but also the rich
kings, found the poor Mary and her poor Son, as it is said in St. Matthew's Gospel:
"Entering into the house, they found the child . . ." (Matt. II, 1 1 .) So also these rich ones
found them who had brought gifts. The poor find this consolation by poverty; the rich by
liberality. While the poor are conformed to Christ by poverty, the rich are reformed to the
likeness of Christ by liberality.

Sixthly, see how temperate Mary was by sobriety. For she is that Mary to whom it is said:
"Fear not Mary, for thou hast found grace" (Luke II, 30.) Note that it is said: "thou hast
found grace." Never would Mary have found grace, unless grace had found Mary
temperate in food and drink. For grace and gluttony do not go together. And it is
impossible that a man should at the same time be pleasing to God by grace, and
displeasing by gluttony. It is good, therefore, to seek grace and to fly gluttony. For St. Paul
says: "It is best that the heart be established with grace, not with meats; which have not
profited those that walk in them" (Heb. XIII, 9. ) Note that it is said: "Thou shalt conceive in
the womb" (Luke 1,31.) Never would Mary have conceived God in her womb if she had
given way to gluttony. How far from the grace of Mary are they who so often exceed due
moderation in food and drink !

Seventhly, see that Mary was most chaste by virginity. For she is that Mary of whom it is
said: "The name of the virgin was Mary" (Luke I, 27.) We have as witnesses of the
resplendent chastity of Mary: the Evangelist, Mary herself, and the Angel. For she was
chaste in her virginal body, as the Evangelist testifies, saying: "And the name of the virgin
was Mary" (Luke I, 27.) In her virginal mind Mary was even more chaste, as she herself
testifies. For she said to the Angel: "How shall this be done, because I know not man"
(Luke I, 34.) That is to say, I do not intend to know a man. But Mary was most chaste of all
in her virginal offspring, as the Angel testifies, who spoke of her thus in St. Matthew's
Gospel: "Joseph, Son of David, fear not . . ." (Matt. I. 29.) For from the time the Virgin
Mary was divinely overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, her virginity was never dimmed, but
was glorified in a divine and truly marvelous manner. By her Child she was approved, by
her Child she was ennobled, by her Child she was enriched. By thy Child, O Mary, thy
virginity was gifted, endowed, and consecrated. Therefore St. Augustine well saith: "Truly
do we proclaim Mary to be both Virgin and Mother, for true fecundity glorified her virginity
and undefiled virginity glorified her true fecundity. Her virginity was rendered more glorious
by her fecundity, and her fecundity by her virginity." Alas, how far from the grace of Mary
are they who are not chaste, who are enemies of chastity !

Now, since the sweet name of Mary is of such favor as we have set forth, rightly do we
call upon her, according to that word of St. Bernard: "O clement Queen, may Jesus Christ,
thy Son, bestow the gifts of His grace on thy servants, who invoke the sweet name of
Mary--Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth God for
ever and ever. Amen."

CHAPTER V - THE GRACE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS TRUE, IMMENSE,
MANIFOLD, AND EXCEEDINGLY USEFUL

Hail Mary, full of grace. It has been shown above, how Mary, because of the pure
innocence of her life, is rightly saluted by the Ave. We have now to show how, by the
abundance of her grace, she deserves the salutation "full of grace." Consider, dearly
beloved, this grace, the grace of Mary, this admirable grace. Consider the truth, the
immensity, the multiplicity, the utility of the grace of Mary. For the grace of Mary is a most
true grace, a most immense grace, a most manifold grace, and a most useful grace.

First, consider the truth of the grace of Mary. Of this Gabriel saith: "Thou hast found
grace," etc. (Luke I, 31 .) That grace is true which is found with God who is the Truth. He
says "with God" and not with the devil. For the devil offers the grace of an evil prosperity,
that one may sin more freely. Holofernes, who signifies the devil, says: "Drink now, and sit
down and be merry: for thou hast found favor before me" (Judith XII, 17.) He says, "with
God," not with the world, because with the world, that is, with worldly men, false grace and
false contrition are often found. Therefore it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Open not thy heart
to every man, lest he repay thee with an evil turn; and speak reproachfully to thee" (VIII,
22. ) "With God," he says, not with men; therefore Blessed Bernard saith: "Let us seek
grace, but grace with God, for with men favor is deceitful." Again he says, "with God," not
with the flesh; for the grace or favor of the flesh is false, as beauty of body and such like.
Solomon saith: "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain" (Prov. XXXI, 31 .) For the Virgin
Mary, so full of grace, condemned the false grace of the world, of the flesh and of the
devil. Therefore did she find grace with God, true and pure, defiled by no base mixture, so
that she could truly say with Ecclesiasticus: "My odor is as unmixed balm" (Eccli. XXIV,

21 .) The balm of Mary is the unction of grace, which was most copiously poured forth on
her. Therefore St. Bernard, speaking of the text, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,"
says: "That precious balm flowed upon thee with such fullness and abundance that it
overflowed abundantly all around thee." Balm is usually mixed, and thereby adulterated,
with honey or oil. But the balm of the Holy Spirit in Mary was not mixed, for it was
adulterated neither by the honey of carnality and worldly consolation, nor by the oil of
praise and flattery. But because the grace of, Mary was so true and pure, therefore St.
Jerome well says of her: "Whatever was done in Mary, was all purity and simplicity, all
grace and truth, all mercy and justice, which looked forth from Heaven." Whoever,
therefore, desires with Mary to find true grace, let him approach with Mary to Him with
whom it is found, with every desire, in all earnestness, with all the ardor of longing, as the
Apostle exhorts the Hebrews saying: "Let us go with confidence to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid" (Heb. IV, 16.) And note that
whoever wishes to find, must seek, and whoever wishes to seek, must bow down. Let him
bow down with Mary in true humility, whoever wishes to find true grace with Mary. For it is
said in Ecclesiasticus: "The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and
thou shalt find grace before God" (III, 20.) Mary, because she truly humbled herself, found
true grace, as it is said: "He hath regarded my humility."

Secondly, consider the immensity of the grace because of which Mary is called "full of
grace." The grace of which she was full was certainly immense. An immense vessel

cannot be full, unless that is also immense wherewith it is filled. Mary was an immense
vessel, since she could contain Him who is greater than the Heavens. Who is greater than
the Heavens? Without doubt He of whom Solomon says: "If heaven and the heaven of
heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?" (3 Kings VIII,
27.) It was not indeed the house which Solomon built, but she of whom that house was the
type, which could contain God. Thou, therefore, O most immense Mary, art more
capacious than the Heavens, because He whom the Heavens cannot contain was borne
in thy womb. Thou art more capacious than the world, because He whom the whole world
cannot contain, being made man, was enclosed within thee. If Mary's womb then had such
immensity, how much more had her mind? And if so immense a capacity was full of grace,
it was fitting that that grace which could fill so great a capacity, should also be immense.
Who can measure the immensity of Mary? Behold what is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Who
hath measured the height of heaven, and the breadth of the earth, and the depth of the
abyss?" (I, 2.) Mary is a heaven, as much because she abounded in heavenly purity,
heavenly light, and other heavenly virtues, as because she was the most high throne of
God, as the Prophet saith: "The Lord hath prepared His throne in heaven" (Ps. CM, 19.)
Mary was also the earth which brought forth for us that fruit of which the same Prophet
saith: "The earth hath given its fruits" (Ps. LXVI, 7.) Mary is also an abyss in goodness and
deepest mercy. Therefore she obtaineth for us the mercy of her Son, as it were an abyss
calling upon an abyss. Therefore Mary is a heaven, Mary is the earth, Mary is the abyss.
Who hath ever measured the height of that heaven, the breadth of that earth, the depth of
that abyss, except He who hath made her, not only in grace and glory, but in mercy so
high, so wide, so deep? Therefore it is especially of her mercy that Bernard saith: "Who
can search into the length and breadth and depth and sublimity of thy mercy, O blessed
one? For the length of it will help all who call upon her till the last day; the breadth of it fills
the whole world, so that the earth is full of her mercy; and the sublimity of it will bring
about the restoration of the heavenly city, and its depth hath obtained redemption for them
that sit in darkness and the shadow of death. ("Serm. de Assumpt.," 4.)

Third, consider the manifoldness of the grace of Mary, of whom Ecclesiasticus says: "I,
like the turpentine tree, have stretched forth my branches, and my branches are of honor
and grace" (XXIV, 22.) According to Pliny and the Gloss, the turpentine tree is a large tree
of Syria, and it has many and wide-spreading branches. The male tree bears no fruit, but
only the female; this fruit is double, ruddy and white and of a pleasant smell. This beautiful
tree, growing in Syria, is the Blessed Virgin Mary. For "Syria" means watered, and truly the
whole life of Mary was watered by grace, for she grew in the healthful moisture of grace
from the womb of her mother. What wonder if Mary grows in the moisture of grace, when
without it every seed will wither? Whence it is said of the seed in St. Luke's Gospel: "And
being sprung up, it withered, because it had no moisture" (Luke VIII, 6.) The branches of
this tree, branches of honor and grace, are the virtues, and the examples, and the-
benefits of Mary. Many are the branches, branches of honor and grace, the merits of her
abundant grace, her many virtues and good example, her many benefits and her mercy. In
these branches the birds of heaven joyfully dwell, that is, holy souls, so that it can be said
of them what we find in the Book of Daniel: "In the branches thereof the fowls of the air
had their abode" (IV, 9.) Oh, how wide-spreading, how high are the branches of that
blessed tree, the Virgin Mary! How wide-spreading to men, how long to the angels, how

high towards God! In what way she extends to all the branches of her graces and her
mercies St. Bernard sets forth, saying: "Mary has opened to all the bosom of her mercy,
that all may receive of her fullness: the captive redemption, the sick healing, the sad
consolation, the sinner pardon, the just grace, the angels joy, the Blessed Trinity glory, the
Person of the Son the substance of human flesh! The fruit of that tree is that of which it is
said: "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb." That fruit was ruddy in blood, white in death.
Therefore the spouse of God, that is, the holy soul, saith as in the Canticle: "My beloved is
white and ruddy" (Cant. V, 10.) This fruit is-also of a pleasant odor to devout souls. John
the Apostle had this odor in mind when he said to the Lord: "Thy odor hath roused in me
eternal concupiscences." O soul, O soul, dost thou not experience the odor of mercy of
this fruit? Oh, if thou didst inhale it, wouldst thou not run after it, as is said in the Canticle:
"We run in the odor of thy ointments"? It is to be noted that it is not the male turpentine
tree, but the female, that brings forth fruit. So that fruit of life, Jesus Christ, was brought
forth, not by a man, but by a woman, a virgin. Well, therefore, doth St. Augustine say: "A
virgin mother was chosen, who would conceive without concupiscence, and bring forth a
man without a man."

Fourthly, consider the utility of the grace of Mary. It is said: "A gracious woman will find
glory" (Prov. XI, 16.) Behold the utility of the grace of the gracious Mary; it is the finding of
perpetual glory. Most useful was the grace of Mary both to herself and to us. Most useful, I
say, was the grace of Mary to herself. For grace made Mary delightful, miraculous, and
glorious. Delightful in her soul, miraculous in her Son, glorious in her kingdom. Mary was
certainly delightful in her spiritual mind, miraculous in her virginal offspring, glorious in her
eternal diadem. Grace, therefore, made the mind and the soul of Mary delightful with
spiritual delights, as a spiritual paradise of the living God, like that word of Ecclesiasticus:
"Grace is like a paradise in blessings" (XL, 17.) Truly she was a paradise of God in
blessings of manifold spiritual delights. Of which St. Bernard saith: "What shall I say of the
delights of the beauty of virginity, with the gift of fecundity, the mark of humility, the
dropping honeycomb of charity, the bowels of mercy, the fullness of grace, the prerogative
of singular glory?" Likewise grace made Mary miraculous in her offspring, miraculous in
her conception and bringing forth, while miraculously the virgin brought forth, and more
miraculously conceived and brought forth God.

Therefore is it well said of her: "Thou hast found grace with God" (Luke I, 30.) Of this
name, St. Bernard, speaking to Mary, said: "Understand, prudent Virgin, how great and
what special grace thou shalt find with God, from the name of thy promised Son." Grace
likewise made Mary glorious, wherefore it has well been said: "A gracious woman shall
find glory" ( Prov. XI, 16. ) O truly happy finder, Mary, who is so great in this world, so
great in Heaven! No pure creature found such grace in this world, such glory in Heaven.
And certainly she found both grace and glory with the Lord, for as it is said in the Psalm:
"The Lord will give grace and glory" ( Ps. LXXXIII. )

But the grace of Mary was not only most useful to herself, but also to us, to the entire
human race. For the grace of Mary gathers in the evil, nourishes and fattens the good,
delivers all. It gathers in sinners from guilt, fattens them by grace, delivers them from
eternal death. I say, therefore, that the grace of Mary gathers in souls to mercy, gathers

evil-doers into the Church. This is well signified in the favor which Ruth found when she
collected the ears of corn left by the reapers, when she said to Booz: "I have found grace
in the eyes of my lord" (Ruth II, 12.) "Ruth" is interpreted "seeing" or "hastening," and she
typifies the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was truly a seer in contemplation and was swift in
work. For she seeth our misery and swiftly bestows on us her mercy. Booz is interpreted
as "strength," and signifies him of whom it is said in the Psalm: "Great is the Lord and
great is His strength" (Ps. CXLVI.) Ruth, therefore, in the eyes of Booz, Mary in the sight
of the Lord, found this grace, that she gathered up the ears of corn left by the reapers, that
is, souls are gathered to pardon by her. Who are the reapers but the teachers and
pastors? O truly great grace of Mary, by which many are saved and find mercy, who were
given up as hopeless by their priests and pastors! Therefore St. Bernard saith: "Mary, thou
embracest with maternal affection the sinner despised by the whole world, thou cherishest
him, thou never forsakest him, until he is reconciled to the tremendous Judge." Likewise
Mary nourishes the good with the fatness of grace. Therefore is it said in Ecclesiasticus:
"The grace of a diligent woman shall delight her husband, and shall fat his bones" (XXVI,
16.) Mary was indeed the diligent woman of whom Bede saith: "Mary was silent about the
secret of God, but she diligently considered it in her heart." Who was the husband of this
diligent woman, but He whom she had encompassed in her womb ? Of whom Jeremias
says: "The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth, a woman shall encompass a
man" (Jer. XXXI, 32.) The bones of this man are all they who are strong in the Church,
that is, in His body. These bones, by the help of the grace of Mary, are fattened by the
unction of grace. They are fattened, I say, by the fatness of the Holy Ghost, by which he
longed to be enriched who said: "Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness." Oh,
who can reckon how many souls by the help of Mary are nourished and fattened by
grace? And who indeed can calculate how great in Mary herself was this fatness of grace,
by which so many millions of souls are nourished? What was lacking to her who was the
dwelling of all virtue and grace? St. John Damascene says: "Mary, planted in the house of
the Lord, and fattened in spirit like a fruitful olive tree, was made the dwelling of every
virtue." Likewise Mary delivers all men from everlasting death. This was well typified in
Esther, of whom we read: "The king loved her more than all women, and placed the
diadem of his kingdom on her head" (Est. II, 17.) We read, therefore, that there was a
twofold utility in the grace of Esther which she had with the king: one was that she
obtained the royal crown; the other, that she delivered her nation, which had been
condemned to death. So Mary, our Esther, obtained such grace with the eternal King that
by it she not only attained to the crown herself, but delivered the human race, which was
condemned to death. Therefore St. Anselm says: "How shall I worthily praise the Mother
of my Lord and God, by whose fecundity I, a captive, was redeemed, by whose Son I was
rescued from eternal death, by whose Child, I, being lost, was recovered and led back
from the exile of misery to the homeland of eternal beatitude." O Mother of grace, make us
sons of grace. Grant that by thy most true grace we may be gathered for the pardon of sin,
nourished by the spirit of devotion, and delivered from the death of damnation ! Through
Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

CHAPTER VI - THE FOURFOLD GRACE IN MARY-OF GIFTS, OF SPEECH, OF
PRIVILEGES, AND OF REWARDS

Ave Maria, gratia plena. We have still some things to say of the grace of the most sweet
Mary. We will now consider the fourfold grace of her gifts, her speech, her privileges, and
her rewards.

First, consider in Mary the grace of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. To this grace Mary, giving
thanks, could apply the word of Ecclesiasticus: "In me is all grace of the way and the
truth." What wonder if she herself is the grace full of life and truth, who is the Mother of
Him who was "full of grace and truth"? And what wonder if in that rod is so great an
affluence of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, in whose flower the Holy Spirit rested with such
an abundance of His gifts? Mary is that rod, and the Son of Mary is that flower, of whom it
is said in Isaias: "There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall
ascend from that root, and there shall rest upon Him the spirit of wisdom and of
understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of piety,
and he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord." On this flower was a great
abundance of the Holy Spirit, which has overflowed into the whole Church, so that the
Evangelist John says: "Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace." Now
that such an abundance of grace has overflowed from this flower into the whole garden,
how much more will it abound in the rod or stem of the flower, in Mary herself? Let Mary,
therefore, say in all security, "In me is all grace of the way and the truth." Certainly the
grace of the way and the truth consists in the aforesaid seven gifts of the Holy Ghost; it
was by the aforesaid seven gifts that the grace of the way and the truth was in Mary. The
grace of the truth set Mary in order in the truth above herself, below herself, in herself, and
without herself. The grace, I say, of the truth set Mary in order above herself by the gift of
Wisdom; below herself, by the gift of counsel; in herself, by the gift of understanding;
without herself, by the gift of knowledge. The grace of the truth set in order the soul of
Mary in truth above herself, in the most wise contemplation of things to be enjoyed; below
herself, in fleeing foresight of things that were to be shunned; in herself, in her sure
knowledge of what to believe; without herself, in a most reasonable discretion concerning
all she had to do. The grace of her life set Mary in order in a good life with regard to the
devil, with regard to her neighbor, and with regard to God. The grace, I say, of life set
Mary in order in a good life; towards the devil, by fortitude; towards her neighbor, by the
gift of piety; towards God, by the gift of fear. The grace of life set Mary in order in a most
strong resistance to the devil; in a most loving kindness to her neighbor; in a most devout
reverence towards God. This was signified by the Holy Ghost in a most fitting manner by
the house which Wisdom built for Himself, having seven columns, which were the seven
Gifts of the Holy Ghost. Whoever, therefore, feels within himself the beginning of a desire
for the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, can find the shape of these pillars in this house, and he
ought to desire these seven pillars with great ardor and much prayer. Likewise, he who
desires the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit must look for the flower of the Holy Spirit in
the rod. By the rod or stem we attain to the flower, and so to the Spirit that rests upon the
flower. By Mary we approach to Christ, and by the grace of Christ we find the Holy Spirit.
Therefore St. Bernard well says, addressing Mary: "By thee we have access to thy Son, O

blessed finder of grace, mother of life, mother of salvation, that by thee He may receive
us, who by thee was given to us."

Secondly, consider in Mary the grace of the lips, or of speech, of which it is said in the
Psalm: "Grace is shed abroad on thy lips." Such was the grace of the lips in Mary that she
could excellently be prefigured by Judith, of whom it is said: "There is not such another
woman upon earth in look, in beauty, and in sense of words" (Judith XI, 19.) Truly there is
not, nor ever was, nor ever will be, such another woman upon earth, as Mary was, in her
glorious life, in the beauty of a pure conscience, and in the sense of words of a most
skilled tongue. We shall clearly see the grace of the lips in Mary if we diligently gather and
meditate the words of her lips as recorded in the Gospel. We find in the Gospel seven
sentences, sweeter than honey, dropping from the lips of Mary, and indicating excellently
the honey-flowing grace of her lips, as it is said in the Canticle: "Thy lips are as a dropping
honeycomb" (IV, 1 1 .) The seven words of Mary, spoken to the Angel, to God, and to men,
are as seven wells of honey. To the Angel, Mary spoke the word of chastity and the word
of humility. Mary had on her lips the word of chastity when she said in answer to the
Angel: "How shall this be done, for I know not man?" This is a lesson to the unchaste, who
have on their lips not chaste, but base and carnal words. Mary spoke to the Angel the
words of humility when she said: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me
according to thy word." This is a lesson to the proud and arrogant, who neither think nor
speak humbly of themselves, but have words of boasting and elation on their lips. Again
Mary spoke to men the word of charity and the word of truth: the word of charity in
greeting, the word of truth in instruction. Mary spoke the word of charity when she so
affectionately saluted the mother of the Precursor that even the infant in that mother's
womb exulted. This is a lesson to the rancorous, who will not only not speak charitably to
their neighbors, but disdain to speak to them at all. Mary spoke the word of truth when, the
wine failing, she said to the servants at the marriage feast: "Whatsoever He shall say to
you, do ye." This is a lesson to those who will not only not speak good words to their
neighbors, but urge them to evil deeds. Again, Mary spoke three times to the Lord. She
spoke more to God than to angels or to men, for she spoke twice to the angels and twice
to men, but three times to God. To God she spoke a word of praise, of loving complaint,
and of compassion. Of praise for the benefits bestowed on herself; of loving complaint for
the loss of her Son; of compassion for the failing of the wine. Mary had the word of praise
to God on her lips, when in thanksgiving for that God had looked upon her lowliness, she
said: "My soul doth magnify the Lord." This is a lesson to the ungrateful, who, alas, give
such scant thanks to God for His benefits, and at times grow puffed up against God by
these very benefits. Mary had the word of loving complaint to God upon her lips, when she
said to her Son, after the three days' loss: "Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy
Father and I have sought Thee sorrowing." Here is a lesson for the indevout, who do not
seek Jesus sorrowing, when by the withdrawal of devotion they have lost him for many
days. Mary spoke the word of compassion to God when at the marriage feast she said to
her Son: "They have no wine." Here is a lesson to the unmerciful, who are not moved to
compassion by the needs of others, and who neither help their neighbors, nor draw them
to God. Behold now, O Mary, our advocate, it is still needful to us that thou shouldst speak
to thy Son for us, that many of us have no wine; we lack the wine of the Holy Spirit, the
wine of compunction, the wine of devotion and spiritual consolation. Of which St. Bernard

thus speaks: "How often is it necessary for me, O my brethren, after your tearful
complaints to beseech the Mother of Mercy to say to her Son that you have no wine! And
she, I say, beloved, if she is piously besought by you, will not be lacking to your need, for
she is merciful, she is the Mother of Mercy. For if she had compassion for the shame of
those whose guest she was, much more will she have compassion on you if you call upon
her earnestly." Consider well, from what we have said, what power Mary hath with the
King of kings, because of the grace of her lips, for it is written in the Book of Proverbs: "He
who loveth cleanness of heart, for the grace of his lips shall have the king for a friend"
(Prov. XXII, 11.)

Thirdly, consider in Mary the grace of privileges. Of this grace it is said: "Thou hast found
grace with the Lord, behold thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bear a Son, and
thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most
High." See how Gabriel, asserting that Mary had found grace, immediately specifies what
that grace is, saying: "Behold thou shalt conceive in the womb." Oh, how great and how
unheard-of in all the world that a virgin should conceive and bring forth the Son of the
Most High. We can perceive in Mary seven privileges, privileges full of immense graces,
granted to Mary alone by God.

The first privilege of Mary was that she was, above all men, free from sin and most pure.
For she was so abundantly sanctified by grace in her mother's womb that it is believed she
was never in the least degree inclined to the slightest venial sin. Therefore St. Bernard
saith: "It behooved the Queen of Virgins, by a singular privilege of sanctity, to lead a life
free from every sin, so that, while she brought forth the slayer of sin and death, she should
obtain for all the gift of life and justice."

The second privilege of Mary is that, above all men, she was full of grace. St. Jerome
saith: "On others grace was bestowed in measure; but the whole fullness of grace was
poured into Mary." And, therefore, well doth this same Blessed Doctor, comparing the
grace of Mary with that of the angels and preferring it, say: "It is to be believed that the
glorious Virgin Mary merited greater privileges of virtue, and received grace praised by the
angels."

The third privilege of Mary was that she alone was a mother and at the same time an
inviolate virgin. St. Bernard, praising this privilege, says: "Mary chose for herself the better
part. Clearly the better, because conjugal fecundity is good, but virginal chastity is better,
but the best is virginal fecundity, or fecund virginity. The privilege of Mary will not be given
to another, because it will not be taken away from her."

The fourth privilege of Mary is that she alone is the ineffable Mother of the Son, the
Mother of that Son of whom alone God is the Father; wonderful above measure that so
great a privilege should be granted to a creature. Of this privilege St. Bernard saith: "This
is the singular glory of our Virgin, and the excellent prerogative of Mary, that she merited
to have her Son in common with God the Father."

The fifth privilege of Mary is that she alone above all creatures was in the body most
familiar with God. For, what was never granted to any other creature, nor will ever be
granted again in eternity -she bore God for nine months in her womb, she nourished God
from her breasts full of heaven, for many years she sweetly brought up our Lord, she had
God subject to her, she handled and embraced her God in pure embraces and kisses with
tender familiarity, as St. Augustine says: "No wonder, Mary, that God reigning in Heaven
deigns to rejoice with thee, whom, when He was a little child born of thee, thou didst so
often kiss on earth." (Serm. de Sanct., XXV, CCVIII, n. II, appendix.)

The sixth privilege of Mary was that she alone, above all creatures, is most powerful with
God. St. Augustine says: "She merited to be the mother of the Redeemer." He also says:
"Beg for what we ask, excuse what we fear, because we shall never find one more
powerful in merit than thee, who hast merited to be the Mother of the Redeemer and of the
Judge. It is a great privilege that she is more powerful with God than all the Saints, as St.
Augustine declares: "There is no doubt that she who brought forth the price by which all
were freed, can above all others pay the suffrage of holy liberty." But what would it avail us
for Mary to have such great power if she cared nothing for us ? Therefore, brethren, we
must hold it for certain, and incessantly give thanks for this, that, as she has more power
with God than all the Saints, so is she also more solicitous for us before God than all the
Saints. It is the same Augustine who teaches us this, saying: "We know, O Mary, that thou
above all the saints art solicitous for the holy Church-thou who obtainest for sinners time
to repent, that they may renounce their errors."

The seventh privilege of Mary is that she, above all the Saints, is most excellent in glory.

St. Jerome says: "Everywhere the holy Church of God sings, what it is unlawful to believe
of any other of the saints, that the merits (of Mary) transcend those of all angels and
archangels. This privilege not, as it were, of nature, but of grace-belongs to the Virgin
Mary." Behold how glorious is the privilege of Mary's glory that she, after God, is most
exalted in glory. The glorious privilege of the glory of Mary is, that whatever after God is
most beautiful, whatever is sweetest, whatever is pleasanter in glory, that is Mary's, that is
in Mary, that is by Mary. It is entirely the glorious privilege of Mary, that, after God, our
greatest glory and our greatest joy is because of her. St. Bernard says: "After God, it is our
greatest glory, O Mary, to behold thee, to adhere to thee, to abide in the defense of thy
protection."

These, therefore, are the seven privileges of Mary by which we obtain the life of grace.

And therefore, we may implore Mary, as Abraham implored Sara: "Say, I beseech thee,
that thou art my sister, that it may be well with me because of thee, and that my soul may
live by thy grace" (Gen. XII, 13.) 0 Mary, our Sara, say that thou art our sister, that
because of thee it may be well for us with God, and that our souls may live in God
because of thy grace. Say, O our most beloved Sara, that thou art our sister, that, for the
sake of such a sister, the Egyptians, that is, the evil spirits, may reverence us, that,
because of such a sister, the angels may fight for us, and that above all, for the sake of
such a sister, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost may have mercy on us.

Fourthly, consider in Mary the grace of rewards, on which we have already touched in
speaking of her seventh privilege. To this grace can be applied that word of
Ecclesiasticus: "Grace upon grace hath a chaste and holy woman" (XXVI, 19.) The
woman chaste above all women is Mary, the woman holy above all women, in whom is
grace above grace, the grace of glory above the grace of the way, the grace of rewards in
Heaven above the grace of merits in this world. This grace of the beatitude of Mary
consists in seven gifts of body and of soul. Every glorified body has four glorious gifts: the
gift of wonderful clarity, the gift of wonderful subtlety, the gift of wonderful agility, and the
gift of wonderful impassability; and if every glorified body has these gifts, how much more
so will the body which brought forth Him who is the Glorifier of all bodies? What wonder if
her gift of clarity is the brightest in Heaven, who by the gift of holiness was so resplendent
in this world that St. Bernard says of her: "While yet thou didst live among sinners, thou
didst shine before God with such sanctity, that thou alone didst merit to approximate to the
glory of the eternal King." Again, what wonder if by the gift of subtlety she is most subtle,
who by the gift of humility was most subtle in this world? Speaking to her, Blessed
Bernard says: "Thou wouldst never have ascended far above all the choirs of angels, if on
earth thou hadst not lowered thyself by humility below all men." Again, what wonder if by
the gift of agility she is swiftest in Heaven, who by her gift of loving kindness was so swift
upon earth? For in the offices of charity she went with haste into the hill country, of the
swiftness of whose haste St. Ambrose says: "Whither would she, who was now full of
God, hasten, unless into the hill country with haste? For the grace of the Holy Spirit
knoweth no tardy delays." Again, what wonder if by the gift of impassability she is
impassable in Heaven, who by the gift of patience and equanimity was so impassable in
this world that she never felt the slightest impatience or hatred when the sword passed
through her own soul? For we neither read nor believe that the least sign of impatience
ever appeared in Mary. St. Bernard says: "Diligently revolve in thy mind the whole of the
Gospel story, and if thou discoverest in Mary the least sign of rebuke, of hardness, or of
indignation, then thou mayest hesitate to believe in her virtue in other things, and fear to
approach her."

If such is the glory of the body of Mary, what, thinkest thou, is the glory of her soul? This
blessed soul has three beatific gifts— the gift of wonderful love, the gift of wonderful
knowledge, and the gift of wonderful fruition, or, to put it in a more modern way, the gifts of
vision, fruition, and experience. But in whatever manner the gifts of Mary are expressed, it
is certain that these gifts surpass those of all other souls. For if all blessed souls are
endowed with these gifts in Heaven, how much more the soul of her who brought forth in
this world the soul of the Beatifier of all souls? St. Bernard says: "She penetrated the most
profound abyss of divine Wisdom beyond what could be believed, and as far as the
condition of a creature is capable, she was united to that inaccessible Light." Again, what
wonder if the soul of Mary is immersed in fecund love, what wonder if she is loving above
all, who is above all beloved? Truly, before and above all; for St. Augustine thus
addresses her: "The King of kings, loving thee above all as His true Mother and Spouse, is
joined to thee in the embrace of love." Again, what wonder if in most delightful fruition is
immersed the soul of Mary who was fed by the most blessed Fruit of her womb? St.
Augustine says: "Mary in brightness of soul enjoys Christ, and His glorious embraces,
always present, always beholding Him, always thirsting to see Him, she is ineffably

nourished by Him." Therefore, as the most glorious Mary exceeds all Saints in the grace of
the way and in the grace of merits, so she exceeds all Saints in the grace of glory and in
the grace of rewards. Therefore, she is well symbolized by Queen Esther, of whom we
read that, being led to the nuptial chamber of King Assuerus, she found grace and mercy
before him above all women, and he placed the diadem of the kingdom upon her head.
This is eminently suited to Mary, of whom St. Jerome says: "She is raised above the
choirs of angels, that she may behold the beauty and the countenance of the Savior,
whom she had loved and desired with all the desire of her heart." This Queen Esther, the
blessed Virgin Mary, at her Assumption was led into the bridal chamber of the King
Assuerus, the Eternal King, of which incident St. Augustine, addressing Mary, says: "The
Queen Mary, being led into the bridal chamber of everlasting rest, possesses the favor
and grace of the King Assuerus, that is, the grace of the True King above all women, that
is, above all angelical intelligences, and above all beatified souls, so that in Mary there
should be grace above that of all the blessed. And in very truth the King of kings placed on
her head the diadem of the kingdom, a truly priceless diadem, so delightful, so wonderful,
that no tongue can fitly speak of it and it is incomprehensible to every intellect.

Now, therefore, beloved, you have seen with how great grace of gifts Mary is enriched,
with how great grace of the lips, with how great privileges, with how abundant a dower of
rewards. Let us, therefore, beseech this finder of graces that she may let us find grace
with God, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

CHAPTER VII - THE NINE PLENITUDES IN MARY, WHICH REPRESENT THE NINE
CHOIRS OF THE ANGELS IN GLORY

Ave, gratia plena. It was not enough for the Arch angel simply to commend the grace of
Mary; he wished also to insist emphatically on its fullness, when he said: "Gratia plena." O
truly full, and fully full! Gabriel had not yet said: "Behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb."
He had not yet said: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee." If, therefore, before the
coming upon her of the Holy Ghost, before the conception of the Son of God, Mary was
full (of grace), how much more so afterwards? Therefore Anselm aptly says of her fullness
and of the fullness of her gratitude: "She, being already a thousand times full (of grace),
was saluted by the Angel, filled with the Holy Ghost, breathed upon by the divine
plenitude." Well, therefore, is Mary said to be full of the illumination of wisdom, of the
outpouring of grace, of the riches of a good life, of the unction of mercy, of the fecundity of
a pious offspring, of the perfection of the Church, of the redolence of fair fame, of the
resplendence of divine glory, of the joy of eternal gladness. Let us consider these nine
plenitudes in Mary, which represent the nine plenitudes of the angelic orders in glory.

First let us consider that Mary is full of the illumination of wisdom and understanding. She
may aptly be symbolized by that which is said in the Book of Proverbs: "My husband is not
at home, he is gone on a very long journey. He took with him a bag of money: he will
return home the day of the full moon" (VII, 1 9 f.) This is that Man of whom Jeremias saith:
"The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth, a woman shall encompass a man"
(XXXI, 32.) The woman is Mary--a woman indeed in sex, not in corruption; a mother of
virtue, who encompassed Our Lord in her womb, clothed Him with our nature. This Man-if
indeed, as Josephus saith, it be lawful to call Him a man-- has three houses. It belongs to
imperial majesty to have three mansions in the palace, namely, a reception-room, a
supper-room, and a bedchamber. The reception-room is the place for conversation and
discussions; the supper-room, for food; the bedchamber, for rest. So our Emperor, who
rules the winds and the sea, has His reception-room, which is the world; He has His
refreshment-room, which now is the Church, and was of old, the Synagogue; He has His
place of rest, namely, the rational soul of man. But alas! this Man, the Lord of hosts, had
been very far distant from His house of the world, His house of the synagogue, His house
of the soul, for "far from sinners is salvation" (Ps. CXVIII, 155.) This Man was not in His
house when Jeremias complained: "I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance"
(Jer. XII, 7.) He took the bag of money with him when He hid the treasure of His mercies
and His grace from the world. But lo! this Man came back on the day of the full moon--of
that moon, I say, of which it is said in the Canticle of Canticles: "Fair as the moon." This
moon, therefore, is Mary. The full moon is Mary full of grace. Well is Mary compared to the
moon, because by the Eternal Sun she is fully illuminated with the light of wisdom and
truth. Therefore, the name Mary is well interpreted illuminatrix or illuminated. For she, who
is our moon and our lamp, was illuminated by the Lord, and she was the illuminatrix of the
world, according to that prophetic word: "For thou lightest my lamp" (Ps. XVII.) In the
fullness of this moon, the Man came back to his house, when Christ came into this world
in the flesh. O truly wonderful fullness of this moon! Behold, if Mary was full of the light of
wisdom, which she received from the Eternal Sun, before she conceived Him; how much
more full was she, when she so wonderfully conceived this Sun, and so entirely received

Him within herself ! Well, therefore, saith St. Bernard, when commending the fullness of
the wisdom of Mary: "Heavenly wisdom built for Himself a house in Mary: for He so filled
her mind that from the very fullness of her mind her flesh became fecund, and the Virgin
by a singular grace brought forth that same Wisdom, covered with a garb of flesh, whom
she had first conceived in her pure mind."

Secondly, let us consider that Mary is full of the outpouring of grace in her affections. For
such was the inundation of grace, so great was its depth and magnitude in Mary, that she
could well be called a full sea according to that word: "Let the sea roar, and the fullness
thereof" (I Par. XVI, 32.) As in the sea there is a gathering together of waters, so in Mary is
a gathering together of graces. Therefore it is written: "The gathering together of the
waters was called (Vulg. "he called") seas" (Gen. I, 10.) It is also said in Ecclesiastes: "All
the rivers run into the sea" (I, 7.) All the rivers are the gifts of the graces, which entered
into Mary, according to that word of Wisdom: "In me is all grace of the way and of the
truth" (Ecclus. XXIV, 25.) How full is this sea, how full of grace is Mary, St. Jerome
declares, saying: "Truly full, because on others it is only bestowed in part, but on Mary the
whole plenitude of grace was outpoured at once." This sea, therefore, being full, let us
hear it roar against vices. Let the sea roar, therefore, and the fullness thereof, let the full
sea, let the full Mary, roar. Let it roar against luxury, preach chastity, and say: "How shall
this be done, for I know not man?" Let it also roar against pride, by humility, saying:
"Behold the handmaid of the Lord." Let it roar against ingratitude, giving thanks and
saying: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord.... My soul doth magnify the Lord." Of the
fullness of this sea it is likewise said in the Psalm: "Let the sea be moved, and the fullness
thereof." Let the sea be moved, let Mary be moved, let her be moved by our sighs and
mortifications, let her be moved by our tears and prayers, let her be moved by our alms
and our other acts of veneration. Let her be moved fully, I say, that she may pour out on
us of her fullness. Let us note what St. Bernard says in speaking of her: "If a vessel full of
liquid is moved, it is easily spilt, and lets drop its contents. So the Blessed Virgin Mary, if
she is moved by our prayers, pours forth graces upon us."

Thirdly, let us consider that Mary is in very truth full of the riches of a good life. Of this
plenitude we can truly say: "The earth is the Lord's." By the earth is signified Mary, of
whom we read in Isaias: "Let the earth be opened, and bud forth a savior!" What more
lowly than the earth? What more useful? We all tread the earth under our feet, and draw
from it the nourishment of our life. Whence have we food and clothing, bread and wine,
wool and thread, flax, and all the necessaries of life except from the earth, and from the
fullness of the earth? What, therefore, is more lowly, what more useful than the earth? In
like manner, what is more humble, what more useful than Mary? She by her humility is the
very least of all; by her fullness of grace, the most useful of all. For we have all that is
needful for our spiritual life through Mary. Well therefore doth St. Bernard say: "Let us look
more deeply and see with how great a depth of devotion He wishes Mary to be honored
by us who hath placed the fullness of all good in Mary, so that if we have any ground for
hope, or for salvation, we should know that it is from her it springs." ("Serm. de
Aquaeductu.") Hear now the Psalmist: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."
The fullness of the earth consists in fruits and divers riches, according to the Psalmist:

"The earth is filled with Thy riches." The fruits and the riches of this most full earth, Mary,

are the works, the examples, and the divers merits of the most holy life of Mary. The Lord
filled her with such riches and with so great gifts that it is said: "The Lord looked upon the
earth, and filled it with his goods" (Ecclus. XVI, 30. ) St. Jerome, speaking of this fullness,
says: "It was fitting that the Virgin should be pledged with such gifts, that she should be full
of grace, she who gave glory to the heavens, God to the earth, who restored peace, who
gave faith to the nations, put an end to vices, brought back order to life, and discipline to
manners."

Fourthly, let us consider that Mary is full of the unction of mercy and of the oil of piety.
Therefore she may be signified by that woman who, having closed the door of her house
and gathered together within all her vessels, they were miraculously filled with oil,
according to what Eliseus had prophesied to her, saying: "Thou shalt take them away,
when they are full" (Kings IV, 4. ) This woman is Mary, who was called "woman" by her
Son in the Gospel of St. John, where we read: "Woman, behold thy Son." The vessels of
this woman are her affections and her deeds, her desires and her benefits, which in Mary
are all full of the oil of mercy. Well, therefore, doth St. Bernard say of this oil: "No wonder,
Lady, if the sanctuary is so copiously anointed with the oil of the mercy of thy heart, when
that inestimable work of mercy, which God had predestined from all eternity in our
redemption, was first of all effected in thee by the Maker of the world. Let us, therefore,
say to Mary: 'Give us of your oil.' Let us beg for the oil of her mercy in this world, lest we
should ask in vain at the judgment." That the house in which the vessels were filled should
also have been closed, is admirably suited to Mary, of whose spiritual enclosure Ezechiel
says: "This gate shall be closed, and it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass
through it; for the Lord God of Israel has entered through it" (XLIV, 2.) The gate of Mary
was closed by the lock of virginity; no man had passed through it by way of conjugal
embrace; the Lord God came forth through her by a singular manner of birth. But certainly,
because for the multiplication of the oil, vessels not a few were collected from the
neighbors; therefore by these vessels may be signified all those who have been partakers
of the mercies of Mary. Who these are, St. Bernard declares when he says: "Mary has
opened the bosom of her mercy to all, that all may receive of her fullness: the captive,
redemption; the sick, healing; the sad, consolation; the sinner, pardon; the just, grace; the
angel, joy; in fine, the whole Trinity, glory; the person of the Son, the substance of human
flesh."

Fifthly, let us consider that Mary is full of the fecundity of the divine offspring. Of this
plenitude we may understand that word of Isaias: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and elevated, and the earth was full of His majesty" (Is. VI, 1 .) That house on the
throne of which God sits is the Blessed Virgin, on the throne of whose mind the Lord
rested. O truly blessed and stable throne, as it is said in the third Book of Kings: "Thy most
firm throne for ever" (VIII, 13.) This most high throne is in the intellect, raised up on the
affections. It is also most high above men, raised up over men. On this throne, therefore,
of Mary, on the throne, I say, of her mind, the Lord was seated, and the house of her body
was full of the majesty of the Incarnate Word. Of this ineffable fullness St. Ambrose says:
"Well is she alone said to be full of grace, who alone obtained the grace which none other
ever had, of being filled with the author of grace." O truly happy house, full of so happy a
fecundity! For St. Bernard saith: "Well was she full of grace, who both kept the grace of

virginity and acquired the glory of fecundity." The Lord, therefore, sat on the throne of the
mind of Mary by grace, and filled the house of her body with His majesty by His assumed
nature. Therefore, it is said in the third Book of Kings: "The glory of the Lord had filled the
house of the Lord" (VIII, II.) Then saith Solomon: "The Lord hath said that He would dwell
in the cloud" (ibid., 12.) Mary, therefore, the house of the Lord, was filled with the glory of
the Divine Majesty by the cloud of the humanity assumed by God--that cloud, I say, of
which we read in Ecclesiasticus: "The healing of all is in the hastening of the cloud" (XLIII,
24.) And again: "Like the morning star in the midst of a cloud." For like the star in a cloud
is the Word in the flesh assumed by Him.

Sixthly, let us consider in what way Mary was full of the perfection of the universal Church.
The Church had and has diverse and marvelous perfections and graces in her various
saints, in whose fullness it would seem that Mary abode, that she might truly utter that
word of Ecclesiasticus: "My abode is in the full assembly of saints." Truly was the abode of
Mary in the plenitude of the saints, while in her own wonderful perfection the fullness of
the perfection of the saints was not wanting to her. As St. Bernard declares, when he
says: "Rightly in the fullness of the saints was her abode, to whom was not wanting the
faith of the patriarchs, the spirit of the prophets, the zeal of the Apostles, the constancy of
the martyrs, the sobriety of the confessors, the chastity of the virgins, the fecundity of the
married, yea, nor the purity of the angels." For it is written in the book of Ecclesiasticus:
"And shall be admired in the holy assembly" (XXIV, 3.) On account of this, the abode of
Mary is in the fullness of the Saints, not in the fullness of the impious; because Mary
remains willingly with those who are full of sanctity, not with those who are full of iniquity.
She not only abides in the fullness of the Saints, but abides in fullness with the Saints, lest
their fullness should grow less. She takes hold of virtues, lest they fly; she takes hold of
merits, lest they perish; she takes hold of demons and keeps them in check, lest they do
harm; she takes hold of her Son, lest He strike sinners. Before Mary there never was one
who could dare thus to take hold of the Lord, as Isaias bears witness, saying: "There is
none that calleth upon thy name, that riseth up and taketh hold of thee" (Is. LXIV, 7.)

Seventhly, let us consider how Mary is full of the redolence of fair fame. As a field is full of
the scents of various flowers, so is Mary full of the fair fame of fragrant sprinkling. Of her
fullness we may understand what we read in Genesis: "Behold the smell of my son is as
the smell of a full field, which God hath blessed" (Gen. XXVII, 27.) This field is Mary, in
whom the treasure of the angels, yea verily, the whole treasure of God the Father is
hidden. Happy is he "who sells all that he has, and buys that field." The full odor of this full
field is the full fair fame of Mary, her full honor. Of this St. Jerome saith: "Because she was
filled with the many odors of the virtues, there came forth from her a most sweet odor,
rejoicing the angelic spirits." Of this odor she herself, glorying, could use the words of
Ecclesiasticus (XXIV, 20): "I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm." The
good odor of Mary was like cinnamon externally, in the rind of her conversation; like
aromatical balm interiorly, by the unction of her devotion; like myrrh, in the bitterness of
her suffering. The good odor of Mary was also like cinnamon in her deeds; like balm in her
contemplation; like myrrh in her sufferings. O truly rich, and exceedingly rich she who,
besides other aromas, was so full of the odoriferous balm of the Holy Spirit that St.
Bernard, speaking of that word, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee," says: "That

precious balm flowed in on thee with such copiousness and plenitude that it overflows
most abundantly on all around thee." Well, therefore, could God the Father say: "Behold
the odor of my Son is as the smell of a full field," as though He said: "Behold the smell of
my Son, the honor of my Son, is from the honor and the good fame of His mother." St.
Jerome saith: "The maternal honor is His, who was born from her."

Eighthly, let us consider how Mary was full of the reflection or resplendence, as it were,
the expression of the divine glory, according to Ecclesiasticus: "The work of the Lord is full
of His glory" (XXIV, 20.) Above all, the most wonderful work of the Lord is Mary, of whom it
is said in Ecclesiasticus: "An admirable instrument the work of the Most High" (XLIII, 2.)
Truly a wonderful work, for a similar one can never be found. Whence it is said of it:

"There was no such work made in any kingdom" (3 Kings X, 20.) None indeed in the
kingdom of Heaven, none in the kingdom of earth, nor in that of hell; for there never was
such a work in Heaven, on earth, or in the nether regions. For this work is full of the glory
of the Lord, because this glory shines most fully in Mary, above all pure creatures. For
after the humanity assumed by the Word, there is no work, no creature, in whom there is
such scope for the divine glory as in Mary. For the Lord has through Mary glory because
of the restoration brought about in Heaven, glory in the Redemption accomplished in the
world, glory for the deliverance wrought in hell -this glory He has in the fullness of grace
in Mary. Therefore, well does St. Anselm say: "I speak to thee alone, Lady; the world is full
of thy benefits; they have penetrated hell, and surpassed the Heavens. For by the fullness
of thy grace those who were in limbo rejoice in their deliverance, and those who were
above the world have joy in their restoration." Therefore, full of the glory of the Lord is His
work, Mary, because, as it is said in Isaias, "The earth is full of His glory" (Is. VI, 3.) Full
indeed is the whole earth, full is Mary of the divine glory, which shines in her most fully.
Rightly above all the aforesaid is she said to be full of grace, who is most pleasing to all
who are not ungrateful, as St. Bernard shows when, speaking of the words, Ave gratia
plena, he says: "Well is she fully pleasing because she is pleasing to God, to the angels,
and to men; to men by her fecundity, to the angels by her virginity, to God by her humility."

Ninthly, consider how Mary is full of the joy of eternal happiness. Who is ignorant that she
is of those of whom her Son said: "Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full"?

If, therefore, the joy of the Apostles, of all those who are reigning with God, is full, how
much more is the joy of the Mother of God full and complete? Of this plenitude St. Jerome
says: "Full indeed of grace, full of God, full of virtues, she could not but possess most fully
the glory of eternal splendor." What wonder, then, that plenitude that it overflows most
abundantly on all around thee." Well, therefore, could God the Father say: "Behold the
odor of my Son is as the smell of a full field," as though He said: "Behold the smell of my
Son, the honor of my Son, is from the honor and the good fame of His mother." St. Jerome
saith: "The maternal honor is His, who was born from her."

Thus you see in Mary the fullness of illuminative wisdom, the fullness of overflowing
grace, the fullness of a fruitful life, the fullness of helping mercy, of the perfection of the
Church, of good fame, of divine glory, of eternal joy. Now, therefore, O Virgin full of grace,
deign to make us, who are so empty, partakers of thy fullness, that we may at last attain to
eternal fullness. By Our Lord Jesus Christ, etc.

CHAPTER VIII - MARY SHARES ALL GIFTS WITH THE LORD

"Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum." It has been shown above how Mary, because
of the purity of her life, is rightly saluted by the Ave. It has also been shown how, because
of the abundance of her graces, she is rightly called "full of grace." We have now to show
how, because of a most special presence of God within her, it is rightly said to her: "The
Lord is with thee." But tell us, in what measure, O great Gabriel, thou bringest tidings of a
great thing to the great Mary from the great God! But tell us, in what measure, or how He
is with her? Behold St. Augustine answering this question, as it were in the person of
Gabriel: "The Lord is with thee, but more than with me. The Lord is with thee, but not as
He is with me. For although the Lord is in me, the Lord hath created me; but by thee the
Lord is to be born." The Lord, therefore, O Mary, but who, how great? The Lord of the
earth and of all things in general, the Lord who is especially the Lord of mankind, the Lord
who is thine in a singular manner, O Mary. The Lord, I say, of all creatures in general, the
Lord in a special manner of rational creatures, the Lord especially of thy virginal court, O
Mary. We must consider, therefore, that this Lord, who is with thee, is in general the Lord
of all creatures. Judith says: "The Lord of the heavens, the Creator of the waters, and the
Lord of all creatures" (IX, 17.) And the Wise Man: "The Lord of all things loved her" (Wisd.
VIII, 3.) Therefore, the Lord of all things universally, of all things visible and invisible. This
universal Lord of all things was in Mary in such a manner that He made her the universal
Lady of all things--the Lady, I say, of Heaven, and the Lady of the world. St. Anselm saith:
"The Queen of heaven, and the Lady of the World, to the Mother of Him, who cleanseth
the world, I confess that my body is exceedingly impure." But lo! this universal Lord of all
things is a most powerful Lord, a most wise Lord, a most rich Lord, a most unfailing Lord.
A lord without power, without wisdom, without wealth, without permanence, would be a
most imperfect lord. A feeble lord, one needy and insipid, or unable to keep his position,
would be little esteemed. But Our Lord is universal, most powerful, most wise, most
wealthy; His eternity is unfailing.

First note that the universal Lord, who is with Mary, is a Lord most powerful in will and it is
well said of Him: "All whatsoever the Lord hath willed, the Lord has done . . . even in all
abysses" (Ps. CXXXIV, 6.) Therefore, neither in Heaven, nor on earth, nor in all the
infernal abysses, can anyone resist the will of so powerful a Lord, as Mardochai testifies,
saying: "Lord King Almighty, in thy dominion are all things, and there is none who can
resist thy will" (Esth. XIII, 9.) Behold, Mary, how great, how powerful is the Lord who is
with thee! And because He is a most powerful Lord, He is most powerfully with thee:
therefore, art thou most powerful with Him, by Him, through Him, so that thou canst truly
say, "My power is in Jerusalem" (Ecclus. XXIV, 15 . ) Jerusalem signifies the Church
triumphant in Heaven; it signifies also the Church militant upon earth. For truly both in
Heaven and on earth the Mother of the Creator has power. How very powerful she is,
Anselm recognizes when he says: "Hear us, loving one; be with us, be favorable to us;
help us, most powerful one, that our minds may be cleansed from stains and our darkness
illuminated." The Lord, therefore, is with thee, O most powerful Mary.

Secondly, note that the universal Lord, who is with Mary, is a Lord most wise in truth. For
He is the Lord, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "Great is our Lord, and great is His

strength, and of His wisdom there is no number" ( Ps. CXLVI, 5. ) Oh, how wise is the
Lord, whose wisdom nothing can deceive, nothing can be concealed from, because He
knows all things. All our works, both good and bad, all our words, good and bad, all our
thoughts and all our desires, good and bad, the Lord knows. Whence St. Peter says:

"Lord, Thou knowest all things." Behold, Mary, what kind of a Lord, what a most wise Lord,
is He who is with thee. And because the most wise Lord is most wisely with thee,
therefore, thou too art most wise with Him and through Him. Thou art typified by that
Abigail, of whom it was said: "She was a woman most prudent and most beautiful." Mary
was so prudent and so beautiful that St. Anselm does not hesitate to say of her: "All the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Mary." The Lord, therefore, is with thee, O
most wise Mary.

Thirdly, consider that the universal Lord, who is with Mary, is most wealthy in His
possessions, as the Prophet testifies, saying: "The earth is the Lord's, and all that dwell in
it." Not only is the earth and its fullness the Lord's, but also the Heavens and their fullness.
For Thine, O Lord, are the Heavens, and thine is the earth, because "the heaven of
heavens is the Lord's." Everything is the property of this Lord, Heaven and earth, bodies
and spirits, all nature, all grace, all heavenly glory, all is the Lord's own. Therefore, the
Lord is most rich, as the Apostle says: "He is the Lord of all, rich unto all that call upon
Him" (Rom. X, 12.) Behold, Mary, how rich, how great is He who is with thee ! And
because the most rich lord is with thee so richly, therefore art thou most rich together with
Him and because of Him, so that it can be truly said of thee: "Many daughters have
gathered together riches, thou hast surpassed them all" (Prov. XXXI, 29.) The daughter
Agnes, the daughter Lucy, the daughters Catherine, Cecilia, Agatha, and many other holy
virgins and just souls, have gathered together riches of virtue and grace, of merits and
rewards, but thou, O Mary, by thy universal riches hast surpassed them all. Oh, how rich
is Mary in glory, who was so rich in misery! Oh, how rich is she in Heaven, who was so
rich in this world! Oh, how rich is she in her soul, who was so rich in her body, that even
St. Bernard exclaims: "O Mary, rich in all and above all, of whose substance a small part
being taken, was enough to pay the debt of the whole world!" The Lord is with thee,
therefore, O Mary most rich.

Fourthly, consider that the universal Lord, who is with Mary, is the unfailing Lord of
eternity. Whence we read in Exodus: "The Lord will reign in eternity and beyond." And in
the Psalm it is said: "But thou, O Lord, remainest for ever." Behold, O Mary, how great a
Lord, how unfailing a Lord is He who is with thee! And because He is unfailingly with thee,
therefore, thou also art unfailing with Him in eternity. For thou art that unfailing, that
everlasting throne, the throne of the Son of God, of whom the Father saith by the Prophet:
"His throne is like the sun in my sight, and like the moon perfect for ever and truly in
eternity." Hence, we cannot only say with truth: "Thou, O Lord, endurest for ever," but we
can also truly say: "Thou, O Lady, endurest for ever." What wonder if Mary, in her Son,
remains forever, when even the benefits of Mary in her servants remain forever? For St.
Bernard says: "In thee, O Mary, angels find joy, the just grace, sinners pardon forever."
The Lord, therefore, is with thee, O neverfailing Mary! Rejoice, O Mary, rejoice! Behold the
most powerful Lord is with thee in such a manner that thou art most powerful with Him.

The most wise Lord is with thee in such a way that thou art most wise with Him. The most

rich Lord is with thee in such wise that thou art most rich with Him. The never-failing Lord
is with thee in such wise that thou, together with Him, shalt never fail or be deficient.

Now, therefore, most powerful Lady, be a helper to us who are so impotent! Now, most
wise Lady, be to us who are foolish a helper and a counselor! O most wealthy Lady, be to
us who are poor a benefactress! O most unfailing Lady, be to us feeble, failing creatures a
perpetual support in every good deed!

CHAPTER IX - "THE LORD IS WITH THEE"

We must now consider that this Lord, of whom it is said, "The Lord is with thee," is in a
special manner the Lord of rational creatures, as man, the rational creature himself, says
in the eighth Psalm: "O Lord, our Lord," etc. He is the Lord of all men; He is especially our
Lord. As it is said in Isaias: "The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our
king" (Is. XXXIII, 22.) The Lord is our lawgiver in this world; the Lord is our judge at the
last judgment; the Lord is our King who will crown us in Heaven. This particular Lord of
ours was with Mary in such a manner that He made her also our special Lady. Which St.
Bernard acknowledged when he said: "Our Lady, our mediatrix, our advocate, reconcile us
to thy Son, commend us to thy Son, present us before thy Son." But behold, this Lord of
ours is a most loving, a most just, a most sure, a most renowned Lord. A Lord who was
not loving in benefits, just in judgments, true in promises, nor renowned among his people,
would not be thought much of. But Our Lord is most loving in liberality; most just in equity;
most true in fidelity; most renowned in fame.

First, therefore, we must note that our own Lord, who is with Mary, is a most loving Lord in
His infinite mercy. For He is the Lord of whom the Prophet saith: "Thou, Lord, art sweet
and mild, and of much mercy to those who invoke Thee" (Ps. LXXXV, 5.) He is a Lord of
much mercy in many temporal benefits, also in spiritual and eternal ones, which out of his
great mercy He has bestowed upon us, and never ceases to bestow. Would that we were
not ungrateful for so great mercies ! Would that to such a merciful Lord we were very
grateful as Isaias was, who said: "I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the
praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us" (Is. LXIII, 7.)
Behold, Mary, what a Lord He is, how loving, how merciful, the Lord who is with thee. And
because this most merciful Lord is so merciful with thee, therefore thou art most merciful
with Him, and truly of thee can it be said: "A throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one
shall sit upon it in truth" (Is. XVI, 5.) The throne of divine mercy is Mary, the Mother of
mercy, in whom all find the solace of mercy. For as we have a most merciful Lord, so have
we a most merciful Lady. Our Lord is of much mercy to all who invoke Him, and our Lady
is of much mercy to all who invoke her. Therefore St. Bernard excellently saith: "Let him
be silent on the subject of thy mercy, O blessed Virgin, who, having invoked it in his
necessities, found it wanting." The Lord, therefore, is with thee, O most merciful Mary.

Secondly, note that our own special Lord, who is with Mary, is the most just Lord of equity,
as it is well said in the Psalms: "The Lord is just and hath loved justices" (Ps. X, 8.) And
again: "Thou art just, O Lord, and Thy judgment is right" (Ps. CXVIII, 137.) The Lord is
most certainly just in all His judgments, in all causes, in all His deeds, as it is once more
said in the Psalms: "The Lord is just in all His ways" (Ps. CXLIV, 17.) The Lord is so just in
every path of justice that for no one will He depart from the way of justice. And therefore it
is well said: "God will not except any man's person, neither will he stand in awe of any
man's greatness, for He made the little and the great, and He hath equally care of all."
Behold, O Mary, what kind of a Lord He is, what a just Lord, the Lord who is with thee !

And because the Lord is most just with thee, therefore art thou most just together with
Him. For thou art the rod of Aaron, straight, erect, flowering and fruitful; straight and erect,
by justice and equity; flowering, by virginity; fruitful, by fecundity. For who would be the

straight rod or stem, the upright rod or stem, if the rod of Aaron were not upright? What
soul would be just, if Mary were not just? This is why St. Bernard says: "Who is just, if not
the just Mary, from whom sprang the Sun of Justice?" The Lord is, therefore, with thee, O
most just Mary.

Thirdly, note that our own special Lord, who is with Mary, is most sure in fidelity and most
faithful in surety, as the Prophet testifies, saying: "The Lord is faithful in all His ways."
Think, therefore, upon those words of His, in which He has promised a crown to the just
and hell to the wicked; and know that the faithful Lord will keep His words faithfully. He will
faithfully do what He has spoken, as Ezechiel testifies: "I the Lord have spoken, and I will
do" (Ezech. XXX, 12.) The most faithful Lord will most faithfully keep His words, as He
Himself says in the Gospel: "Heaven and earth shall pass away," etc. Behold, O Mary,
what kind of a Lord He is, what a faithful Lord He is, the Lord who is with thee! And
because the most faithful Lord is faithfully with thee, therefore art thou most faithful
together with Him. For thou art that most faithful dove of Noe, who hast most faithfully
stood forth as mediatrix between the Most High God and the world submerged in a
spiritual deluge. The crow was unfaithful, the dove most faithful. So also was Eve
unfaithful; but Mary was found faithful. Eve was the unfaithful mediatrix of perdition; Mary
was the faithful mediatrix of salvation. St. Bernard saith: "Mary was the faithful mediatrix,
who prepared the antidote of salvation for both men and women." The Lord, therefore, is
with thee, O most faithful Mary.

Fourthly, note that our special Lord, who is with Mary, is the Lord who is most renowned
for fame. He is of a great name, as St. Jerome testifies, saying: "There is none like to
Thee, O Lord, and great art Thou, and great is Thy name" (Jerem. X, 6.) The name of the
Lord is indeed of great fame and of great praise among all peoples, as the Royal Prophet
testifies: "Kings of the earth, and all ye people, princes and all ye judges of the earth,
young men and maidens, the old and the young, praise ye the name of the Lord !" (Ps.
CXLVIII, I 1-12.) The praise and fame of the name of God has extended not only to every
people, but also to all time, as is manifest from the same Prophet who says: "May the
name of the Lord be blessed from henceforth, now and forever." Likewise, the fame and
praise of the name of the Lord has not only extended to every people and to all Lime, but
also to every place, as the same Prophet says: "From the rising of the sun even to its
setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised" (Ps. CXII, 2.) Behold, O Mary, how great a
Lord, what a renowned Lord, is He who is with thee! And because He is a renowned and
famous Lord, who is with thee in so renowned a manner, therefore art thou most
renowned together with Him. For thou art well prefigured by Ruth, of whom it is written:

"Be thou the example of virtue in Ephrata, and have a celebrated name in Bethlehem"
(Ruth IV, 1 1 .) O Mary of the most renowned name, how can thy name not be celebrated,
which cannot even be devoutly uttered by anyone without some good coming to him? St.
Bernard testifies to this, saying: "O great, O loving, O most praiseworthy Mary, thou canst
not even be named, but thou enkindlest love; nor canst thou be thought of, without
renewing the affection of those who love thee; thou canst never enter the portals of a
loving memory without bringing with thee the sweetness which is divinely inseparable from
thee." Mary, therefore, is well prefigured by that woman of renown, Judith, of whom it is
written: "And she was greatly renowned among all, because she feared the Lord very

much; neither was there any one that spoke an ill word of her" (Jud. VIII, 8.) Mary is
indeed renowned because of her virtues and her praiseworthy example; but she is even
more renowned because of her mercies and her unspeakable benefits, and more
renowned still because of her graces and wonderful privileges. For what is more wonderful
than to be a virgin mother, and the Mother of God ? What wonder if Mary is renowned in
the world from so many thousand benefits of her mercy, who is so renowned for that one
benefit which she bestowed on man? St. Bernard says: "The renown of thy highest favor
is that bestowed on the God-loving soul, who was reinstated by thee." The Lord is,
therefore, with thee, O most renowned Mary. Rejoice, rejoice! Behold the most loving Lord
is with thee in such a manner that thou also art most loving. The most just Lord is so with
thee that thou, together with Him, art most just; the most renowned Lord is with thee in
such a manner that thou also, together with Him, art most renowned. O most loving Mary,
save us impious souls by thy merciful, loving kindness! O most just Mary, save us unjust
souls by thy just equity! O most faithful Mary, save us perfidious souls by thy fidelity! O
most renowned Mary, save us by thy sweet renown!

CHAPTER X - MARY THE DAUGHTER, MOTHER, SPOUSE, AND HANDMAID OF
THE LORD

We must now consider that this Lord, of whom it is said, "The Lord is with thee," is not
alone in a general sense the Lord of every creature, not alone the Lord of the rational
creature, but also in a most special sense the Lord of the virginal court of His most Holy
Mother. Mary is singularly, both in body and in soul, the court of the Lord, the most holy
house of God, of whom it is said in the Psalm: "Sanctity behooveth Thy house, O Lord." O
singularly blessed House, who alone hast merited so singularly to have the Lord. St.
Bernard saith: "Thou alone hast been found worthy that in thy virginal court the King of
kings and the Lord of lords, coming from His royal throne, chose thee for His first dwelling
among the sons of men." This singular Lord of Mary was with her in so special a way that
He made her Lady, so that there never was one like her either before or after her. For she
became in a wonderful and singular manner the daughter of the Lord, the mother of the
Lord, the spouse of the Lord, and the handmaid of the Lord. If we wish to describe her
relation to each Divine Person, we can say that the Lord who is with Mary is the Lord and
Father, the Lord and Son, the Lord and Holy Ghost, the Lord who is triune and one. He is
the Father and Lord, of whom Mary is the most noble daughter. He is the Son and Lord, of
whom Mary is the most worthy Mother; He is the Holy Ghost and Lord, of whom Mary is
the most just spouse; He is the Lord Triune and One, of whom Mary is the most
submissive handmaid. Mary certainly is the Daughter of the Most High Eternity, the
Mother of the Most High Truth, the Spouse of the Most High Goodness, the Handmaid of
the Most High Trinity.

First, therefore, note, that this Lord, who is so singularly with Mary, is the Lord of whom
Mary is the most noble daughter. Of this Lord and of this daughter can be understood that
which Booz said: "Blessed art thou of the Lord, my daughter, and thy latter kindness has
surpassed the former" (Ruth iii, 10.) Therefore Mary is the daughter blessed by the Lord;
by the Most High Lord, I say, whose daughter she is. O truly noble daughter of the most
noble King, who hast been so abundantly adorned interiorly with manifold glory, that truly
it can be said of thee: "All the glory of the King's daughter is from within" (Ps. XLIV.)
Therefore Mary, as the most true daughter of the King, was most abundantly drawn to the
kingdom, as St. Bernard testifies, saying: "Thou, a delicate daughter, and full of all grace,
dearly beloved in thy delights, art drawn to the glory of thy beauty, and as a sign of love."
This blessed daughter surpassed her former kindness by the latter; for great as the mercy
of Mary was while she was still an exile in this world, much greater is her mercy now that
she reigns in Heaven. Now by her innumerable benefits she shows men a greater mercy,
for she now sees more clearly the untold miseries of mankind. For the splendor of her
former mercy Mary was fair as the moon; but for the splendor of her latter mercy she
resembles the sun. For as the sun surpasses the moon in the greatness of his splendor,
so the latter mercy of Mary surpasses in greatness her former mercy. Who is there upon
whom the sun and the moon do not shine? Who is there upon whom the mercy of Mary
does not shine? Hear what St. Bernard thinks of this: "As the sun shines indifferently upon
the good and the bad, so when Mary is petitioned, she does not discuss the merits of the
petitioners, but shows herself ready to hear them, is most merciful to all, and in fine she

compassionates the misery of all with most abundant affection." The Lord is with thee,
therefore, O Mary, as a father with a most noble daughter.

Secondly, note that the Lord who is so singularly with Mary, is the Lord whose most
worthy mother she is. Of this Lord and of this mother Elizabeth said: "Whence is this to
me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" The Mother of the Lord, the Virgin
and Mother, is a most worthy mother. She is the Mother who is most becoming to such a
Son. She is the Mother to whom such a Son is most becoming. She is the one, than whom
God could make no greater. God could make a greater world, God could make a greater
Heaven, but a greater mother than the Mother of God He could not make. St. Bernard
saith: "No other mother was becoming to God than a virgin; nor was any other son
becoming to a virgin than God." A greater among mothers than Mary and a greater among
sons than Jesus could not be born. This mother is, therefore, the flower of mercy, the
mother of the Sun of justice, the mother of the Fountain of wisdom, the mother of the King
of glory. She is the mother of Him, I say, whose mercy leads us to love, whose justice to
fear, whose wisdom to know, whose glory to hope. Mary is, therefore, the mother of Him
who is in fact our love by mercy, our fear by justice, our knowledge by wisdom, our hope
by glory, so that she can truly say: "I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of
knowledge, and of holy hope" (Ecclus. XXIV, 24.) But is Mary the Mother of Christ only?
Nay, what is most joyful, she is not only the Mother of Christ, but also the Mother of all the
faithful. St. Ambrose saith: "If Christ is the brother of all believers, is not she, who brought
forth Christ, the mother of all believers?" Oh, dearly beloved, let us all rejoice, and
exclaim: "Blessed is the Brother, by whom Mary is our Mother; and blessed is the Mother,
by whom Christ is our Brother." St. Anselm says: "Lady and Mother, by whom we have
such a Brother, what thanks, what praise shall we pay to thee?" God is, therefore, with
thee, O Mary, as a son with a most worthy mother.

Thirdly, note that this Lord who is so singularly with Mary is the Lord whose most beautiful
spouse Mary is. To this Lord, as to this spouse, we can apply the word of Osee: "I will
espouse thee to myself in justice, and in judgment, and in mercy, and in commiserations,
and I will espouse thee to me in faith; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord" (Osee II, 19-
20.) Behold a beautiful spouse, beautiful in justice, and in the judgment of her looks,
beautiful in compassion and in mercy in the regard of her neighbors, and beautiful in faith
in the sight of God. Beautiful indeed in the justice of her life, and in the judgment of her
conscience, beautiful in mercy, in affection, and in compassion in her deeds. Beautiful in
faith, whereby she believed all that was to be believed above herself, and whereby she
believed all that was to be done in her, according to that word: "Blessed art thou who hast
believed, because all shall be fulfilled in thee, which has been said to thee by the; Lord"
(Luke I, 45.) But behold Mary, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, as she is and was most
beautiful in conversation, so also is she most sweet in her address, as it is said in the
Canticle of Canticles: "As a dropping honeycomb," etc. Oh, what honey-flowing words
have those sweet lips of Mary often distilled! Had she not indeed milk and honey under
her tongue in those two sweet words which she addressed to Gabriel? Had not Mary milk
upon her tongue when she said: "How shall this be done, for I know not man?" (Luke I,

34.) Had she not honey on her tongue when she uttered that honey-sweet word: "Behold
the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word”? From the sweetness

of this word, throughout the whole world, the Heavens have dropped honey. Mary had
honey on her tongue in her eloquent words to God; she had milk on her tongue in her
agreeable speech to her neighbor. Of how great sweetness and beauty is that Spouse of
the Supreme Consoler! Because, as St. Augustine says, "Who is this virgin, so holy that
the Holy Spirit deigns to come to her? So beautiful, that God chooses her for His
Spouse?" The Lord is, therefore, with thee, O Mary, as a bridegroom with his beloved
spouse.

Fourthly, note that this Lord, who is so singularly with Mary, is the Lord whose most
devout handmaid she is, as she herself testifies: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." Mary
is the handmaid of God the Father, of God the Son, and of God the Holy Ghost. What
wonder if she is the handmaid of that Lord, when her son is the servant of this Lord,
according to the human nature assumed from His mother? He Himself confesses it in the
Psalm, where He says: "O Lord, because I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid."
O what a good handmaid, and what a good son of the handmaid! Alas, how many are bad
handmaids, and bad sons of the handmaids. But what saith the Scripture? "Cast out the
bondwoman and her son." We read in Genesis of the handmaid of Sara that, seeing that
she herself had conceived, she despised her mistress. Therefore, the evil handmaid Agar
is puffed up by her fecundity; but the good handmaid Mary is made fecund by her humility.
That proud handmaid despised her mistress; the Lord looked on this humble handmaid,
as she herself says: "He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid." O Christian soul,
handmaid of the Lord, with Mary cultivate fecundity in such a manner that you may not be
wanting in humility; that, therefore, you may not be puffed up by your fecundity in good
works, notice the humble handmaid, look upon the humble Mary. "Behold," she says, "the
handmaid of the Lord." St. Ambrose says: "See her humility, see her devotion. She calls
herself the handmaid of the Lord, she who is chosen to be His Mother; nor is she elated
by the promise. O truly admirable humility! Behold in what manner Mary designs not only
to be the handmaid of the Lord, but also the handmaid of the servants of the Lord. For it is
she who is signified by Abigail, who sent messengers that she might be brought to David,
saying: "Behold, let thy servant be a handmaid, that: she may wash the feet of the
servants of my Lord" (I Kings XXV, 41 .) By the blessed handmaid Mary, how many
servants of the Lord have been washed, how many faithful by her prayers have been
cleansed from their sins! For she, as it were, offered water for their feet when she
obtained for them tears of compunction for their sins. The Lord is with thee, therefore, O
Mary, as with a most devout handmaid. The Father is with thee; the Son is with thee; the
Holy Ghost is with thee. St. Bernard says: "The Father is with thee, because He made His
Son thine; the Son is with thee, who, in order to work in thee an admirable secret, in a
wonderful manner unlocked the secret room of generation, and kept for thee the seal of
virginity; the Holy Spirit is with thee, who together with the Father sanctified thy womb.

The Lord is, therefore, with thee," the Lord, whose daughter thou art, than whom none is
more noble; the Lord, whose mother thou art, than whom none is more wonderful; the
Lord, whose spouse thou art, than whom none is more lovable; the Lord, whose handmaid
thou art, than whom none is more humble, nor ever was, nor ever will be. Therefore, O
Lady, because so great a Lord is in such a manner and so much with thee, grant that by
grace He may also be with us.

CHAPTER XI - MARY FOR HER OWN SAKE AND FOR OURS IS FITLY COMPARED
TO THE AURORA

"Dominus tecum"--The Lord is with thee. That devout client of Mary, St. Anselm, alluding
to these sweet words, says: "Mary, I beseech thee, by the grace by which the Lord wished
so to be with thee, and thee with Him, grant for His sake, according to the same grace, His
mercy to me; grant that the love of thee may be ever with me, and that my care may be
about thee; grant that the cry of my necessity may be with thee, as long as it lasts, and
that the look of thy loving kindness may be on me as long as I live; grant that my joy in thy
beatitude may ever be with me, and that compassion for my misery may be with thee as
far as it is expedient for me."

The Lord is with thee, O Mary. Certainly with thee, as the sun is with the aurora which
goeth before him; with thee as the flower is with the stem which produces it; with thee, as
the King is with the Queen going in to him. For the Sun, which is the most lightsome of all
luminaries, the Flower which is more precious than all flowers, and the King, who is more
glorious than all kings, is Our Lord Jesus Christ. The aurora, therefore, going before this
Sun with resplendent radiance, the stem producing by a most wonderful flowering this
Flower, the Queen entering in to the King in solemn procession, is the most Blessed Virgin
Mary. Of all these points we shall treat in order.

"The Lord is with thee." With thee, certainly, as the sun is with the aurora going before it,
and preceding its rise, and beginning the day by its light. Truly, indeed, Mary, the aurora of
the world, prepared in a most singular manner by the Eternal Sun, being thus marvelously
irradiated, herself prepares the rising of this Sun, has wonderfully inaugurated for the
world the day of grace of such a Sun, as St. Bernard says: "Like the aurora exceedingly
resplendent hast thou come into the world, O Mary, when thou didst foreshew the
splendor of the true Sun by such a wonderful radiance of sanctity that truly the day of
salvation, the day of propitiation, the day which the Lord hath made, was worthy to be
begun by thy bright light." Mary is, therefore, the aurora, of whom it is said: "Who is this,
who cometh forth," etc. Fitly is she compared to the aurora, as well for herself, as for us;
for herself especially, for us in general. Mary for herself is well compared to the aurora
according to Scripture; first, because of the driving away of the night of sin; secondly,
because of the approach of the light of grace; third, because of the rising of the Sun of
justice; fourth, because of the place of her throne of glory. First, in her most full
sanctification; secondly, in her most bright conversation; thirdly, in her most wonderful
generation of her Son; fourthly, in her most glorious Assumption.

First, note that Mary is, as it were, a happy aurora because of the absence or happy
driving away of guilt in her own sanctification. Therefore Job, cursing the night in which it
was said: "A man is conceived," said: "Let the stars darken their light. Let it expect light
and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day" (Job III, 9.) What is meant here by
the stars, by the light, by the dawn? I say that the stars are the souls of the Saints; the
light is the Holy of holies; the dawn is the Queen of Saints. The stars indeed are all the
Saints, who never abandon good order and discipline of morals, the course of fervor and
of a good life, and so they fight with vigor against the devil. Of these stars it is well said in

the Book of Judges: "The stars remaining in their order and courses fought against Sisara"
(Judg. V, 20.) Sisara is interpreted, taking away the departing one, and it signifies the
devil, who takes anyone that departs from God. The light signifies the Holy of Holies,

Jesus Christ, as He Himself shows, saying: "I am the light of the world, who followeth Me,
walketh not in darkness" (John VIII, 12.)

Let us, brethren, follow this light, lest, walking in darkness, we should fall into the mire of
sin and the pit of hell. Let us follow not haltingly, according to what is said, "How long will
you halt between two sides? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is, follow ye him" (3
Kings XVIII, 21 .) The dawn, whose rising the night does not see, signifies the Blessed
Virgin, whose nativity was not initiated by the night of original sin. For the night which Job
cursed, the night in which man was conceived, is original sin; in which we are all
conceived. Hence the Psalmist says: "In sins did my mother conceive me." Because all
the Saints are conceived in sin, they are born in sin, and hence it is rightly said that this
night has seen no light.

Secondly, note that Mary is, as it were, a happy aurora, because of her happy progress in
the light of grace, according to that word: "Who is this that advances like the aurora," etc.
(Cant. VI, 9.) For as the light of the aurora progresses by gradually growing in brightness,
so Mary advanced by advancing in the splendor of grace and of a good life. She made
progress indeed by advancing in all virtues universally, so that in all the glory of all virtue
she was, as it were, in herself the rising aurora, fair as the moon to her neighbors, as the
sun towards God. She made progress also by advancing in special virtues, of which St.
Bernard speaks thus: "Charity burned in Mary by seeking grace, virginity was resplendent
in her body, in service she was eminent in humility." By the glory of these virtues Mary
was, as it were, the rising aurora in her shining virginity, fair as the moon in her
resplendent humility, clear as the sun in her radiant charity. Happy he who cultivates these
three splendors, these three virtues of Mary, by which she conceived the God and Master
of all virtues, as St. Bernard again testifies, saying: "She who was already full of grace
found grace, that, being fervent in charity, intact in virginity, devout in humility, she might
become pregnant without any intercourse with man, and might bring forth a child without
the usual travail."

Thirdly, note that Mary is, as it were, a happy aurora, because of the happy rising of the
Sun of justice. For the Sun of justice, Christ Our Lord, by means of His aurora, Mary, rose
upon this world. His rising was unaccompanied by any cloud of sin; wherefore this aurora
was exceedingly resplendent in the rising of her Sun, according to that word: "As the light
of the morning when the sun riseth, shineth in the morning without clouds" (2 Kings, XXIII,
4. ) The light of this morning is the holiness of Mary, by which the Sun of justice, who was
about to come forth from her, deigned to irradiate her. Of this St. Bernard well saith:
"Rightly, O Mary, hast thou fulfilled the office of the morning. For the Sun of justice, who
was Himself about to proceed from thee, preventing as it were His own birth by a certain
morning splendor, copiously transfused thee with the rays of His own light." The light of
this morning shone forth wonderfully when the Sun rose without clouds, that is, when
Christ was born without any of the darkness of original sin. Behold, here it is said that the
sun rose without clouds, and in Exodus we read that the bush was on fire without being

burned; and in Daniel, that a stone was cut without hands. What, therefore, is signified by
the sun, by the fire, by the stone, if not Christ? For He Himself is the sun enlightening the
intellect, the fire enkindling the affections, the stone strengthening us against defect. I say
that Jesus Christ is the sun illuminating the intellect, according to Malachias: "The sun of
justice will rise upon you who fear my name" (IV, 2.) See, therefore, if thou fearest the
Lord, for it is written: "Who feareth God, neglecteth nothing" (Ecclus. VII, 19.) Again Christ
is the fire enkindling the affections, as the Apostle says to the Hebrews: "Our God is a
consuming fire" (Hebr. XII, 29. ) This fire was not only in the bush of the virginal womb, but
also in the bush of her devout heart. They have felt this fire who said: "Were not our hearts
burning within us," etc. Again, Christ is the stone strengthening us against failings, if we
are well founded upon Him. Therefore it is said in St. Matthew: "The rains fell, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was
founded on a rock" (VII, 25.) Behold, neither the rain of heretical eloquence, nor the floods
of worldly concupiscence, nor the winds of human violence, could injure the house of a
mind founded upon the rock of Christ. What does it mean, therefore, that the sun rises
without a cloud, the bush is on fire without being consumed, the stone is cut without
hands, unless it be that Christ, who is the sun of truth, the fire of charity, the stone of
firmness or of eternity, is conceived and born without the cloud of original sin, without the
fire of carnal concupiscence, without the agency of the marital embrace? For in the
conception of Christ you will find neither sin in the offspring, nor concupiscence in the
mother, nor the embrace of a father. That this Virgin conceived so miraculously, He could
effect who sent beforehand so many wonderful things prefiguring this miracle, as St.
Augustine testifies, saying: "He who wrote on the tablets of stone without iron, made Mary
with child of the Holy Ghost; and He who produced bread in the desert without ploughing,
impregnated the virgin without corruption; and He who made the rod to bud without rain,
made the daughter of David bring forth without seed."

Fourthly, note that Mary is, as it were, a happy aurora because of her place in glory; and
according to this Job well says of the aurora: "Didst thou . . . shew the dawning of the day
its place?" (Job XXXVIII, 12.) Now certainly, our aurora, Mary, elevated high in Heaven,
holds the place nearest to the Eternal Sun. We may consider that the throne of Mary in
Heaven has a threefold greatness. The first is that she received Our Lord spiritually; the
second, that she received Him corporeally; the third, that she received Him eternally.
Behold the threefold place of Mary. I say that the first place, in which Mary received Our
Lord spiritually, is her mind, tranquil and peaceful, according to the Psalmist: "His place is
in peace, and His dwelling in Sion," which, interpreted, means a mirror or contemplation.
Whoever wishes to contemplate God, or to behold Him with the eyes of the mind, must
make Him a place in peace in his mind; for without peace of mind no one can arrive at the
knowledge of contemplation. Therefore the Apostle saith: "Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see God" (Hebr. XII, 14.) Oh, who shall relate, or
who can even imagine, in what contemplations daily that Sion, that holy mind of Mary, was
employed, while she fervently revolved in her mind all those mysteries known to herself
above all mortals? Of this St. Jerome well says: "If there are in you any bowels of piety or
mercy, consider with what love was crucified, with what desire this virgin burned, while
she revolved in her soul all that she had heard and seen, all that she had known; with
what emotions she was moved, being filled with the Holy Ghost, with the thrilling

knowledge of heavenly secrets." The place in which Mary conceived corporeally was her
holy womb, to which may be applied the word of Genesis: "The river which came forth
from the paradise of pleasure (Jesus Christ from the Virgin's womb) was to water the
garden" (Gen. II, 10.) The special paradise is Mary; the universal paradise is the Church.
Happy is the watering of both these gardens by the mystic river from the womb of Mary,
Jesus Christ, who has said: "I will water my garden of plants" (Ecclus. XXIV, 42.) Well,
therefore, doth St. Jerome say, commenting on these words: "I saw her coming up
beautiful from the banks of the water." Well is it said, "above the rivers of water," because
the Lord had nourished her on the waters of refreshment, and brought her up on them;
from whom many rivers emerge, water all the land of delights, and flow over the garden of
pleasure." Again, the place wherein Mary received the Lord when she was about to dwell
forever in Heaven is the place of glory, of which the Lord said to Job: "Hast thou shown
the dawn its place?" (XXXVIII, 12), as if he said, "Not thou, but I." It does not belong to
thee to show Mary, the dawn, her place in Heaven, but to me. Well doth he say, her place,
as it were appropriating it to her, and discriminating it from all the other places of the
Saints. Hence we read: "The priests brought in the ark of the covenant into its place" (3
Kings, VIII, 6.) This place is most certainly above all the choirs of angels. Finally, this
place is the most worthy in Heaven, as St. Bernard testifies saying: "Neither was there in
the world a more worthy place than the bridal chamber of the virginal womb, in which Mary
received the Son of God, nor in the heavens one more worthy than the royal throne to
which the Son of Mary raised her." Mary is compared to the dawn; first, because she put
an end to the night of guilt, in her most full holiness; secondly, because of the advance of
the light of grace in her most bright conversation; thirdly, because of the bringing forth of
the Sun of justice in her wonderful generation of her Son; fourthly, because of her taking
possession of her place in glory in her most glorious Assumption.

Then we have to consider that the most lightsome Virgin is compared to the aurora, not
alone for herself, but also because of us. For as in Scripture she is signified by the aurora,
she is for us a mediatrix with God, with the angels a peace-maker, against the devils a
defender, to ourselves a lightgiver.

First note that our aurora, Mary, is for us a mediatrix with God, as is signified in the Psalm:
"Thine is the day and thine is the night, thou hast made the aurora and the sun" (Ps.

LXXIII, 6.)

Thus St. Gregory well says: "The day is the life of the just, but the night is taken to mean
the life of the sinner." And therefore the Lord went before the children of Israel by night in
a pillar of fire, by day in a pillar of cloud, and because the cloud protected the wicked from
the fire of His wrath, and He burns the wicked like fire. Therefore the sun signified Christ,
who enlightens the elect and burns the reprobate. He sometimes burns them severely in
this world, but more severely at the last judgment, and most severely of all in hell. Of this
threefold burning can be understood that word of Ecclesiasticus: "The sun three times as
much, burneth the mountains" (Ecclus. XLIII, 4), that is, proud sinners. On this account we
are in need of a refreshment, of a mediatrix between us and the just Sun. And well,
therefore, doth the Psalmist, in the aforesaid verse, place the aurora midway between the
night and the sun, because in the natural order it certainly holds this place. The aurora,

therefore, is the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the most excellent mediatrix between the
night and the sun, between man and God, between unjust man and just God; she is the
best cooler of the wrath of God. St. Bernard bears witness, saying: "Man now has secure
access to God, for he has as a Mediator of his cause the Son before the Father, and the
Son before the Mother. The Son shows His naked body, with His wounds in hands, feet,
and side to His Father; Mary shows her breasts to her Son. There can be no question of a
repulse, where so many marks of charity appear in one, and present their prayer."

Secondly, note that our aurora, Mary, is for us peace-maker with the angels, as it is
signified in Genesis, where we read that the angel who wrestled with Jacob blessed him at
dawn. For when the angel said, "Let me go, it is morning," Jacob would not let him go till
he had blessed him. In the morning took place the struggle between the angel and Jacob,
the discord between God, the angels, and men. For man by sin had offended his Creator;
and the Creator being offended, every creature was offended; how much more she who is
more closely bound to the Creator! This struggle, therefore, was perhaps a figure of that
discord. But when the aurora appeared at the coming of Mary, men and angels were
pacified, because in that dawn, in the Virgin Mary herself, man received the angelic
benediction. For the angel said to the Virgin: "Blessed art thou among women," and by
this blessing of the Virgin man obtains the blessing of peace and salvation in the Virgin's
Son -that blessing of which the Apostle says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us in every blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,"
which blessing the Son Himself will confirm when He will say: "Come, ye blessed of My
Father," etc. As Jacob gave thanks at the rising of dawn, let us, therefore, thank Mary for
that blessing by which we made peace with the angel. By the aurora, by the dawn, by
Mary, men made peace with the angels, since the time when, by Mary, the depleted choirs
of angels were peopled by men, as St. Anselm signifies, saying: "O wonderfully singular
and singularly wonderful Woman, by whom the elements are renewed, the injuries of hell
repaired, men are saved, angels are restored!”

Thirdly, note that Mary, our dawn, is for us a defender against the devils, as signified in
Job, where it is said of the murderer, the thief, and the adulterer, "He diggeth through
houses in the dark, as in the day they had appointed for themselves, and they have not
known the light" (Job XXIV, 16.) "If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow
of death" (Job XXIV, 17.) The murderer is a devil, the thief is a devil, the adulterer is a
devil. The murderer, because he takes human life; the thief, because, whatever good thing
he can rob us of, he; does; the adulterer, because he corrupts the soul, which is the
spouse of God. Alas, what evil these wicked people do us, what evil the wicked spirits do
us! For sometimes they dig in the darkness of ignorance, in the darkness of obscurity, the
interior houses of our minds, the houses indeed, of which it is said in the Psalm: "God is
known in their houses" (Ps. XLVI, 14.) Without doubt they dig into our souls by their
piercing temptations, those houses in which He joyfully dwells who has said: "Today I
must abide in thy house" (Luke XIX, 5.) And having dug through these houses, having
indeed dug into the minds of men through to an unhappy consent to sin, alas, how great
evils these wicked ones do in souls by murder, theft, and adultery! That we may evade
such perils, let the dawn come, let Mary help us! For if the morning shall suddenly appear,
if she quickly comes to our aid, and if her grace and mercy supervene, it will be as the

shadow of death to the demons; they will tremble and fly; they will fear, as men fear and
fly the shadow of death. Well doth St. Bernard say: "An army of enemies does not so
much fear an immense host of armed soldiers, as the powers of the air do the very name
of Mary, and her holy example; they fly and melt like wax before a fire, wherever they find
the frequent invocation of this holy name, its remembrance and imitation."

Fourthly, note that Mary, our dawn, is, as regards ourselves, a light-giver to help us to do
good. For from the first rays of light, workmen begin to work. Whence in the second book
of Esdras it is said: "And let us do the work; and let one-half of us hold the spears from the
rising of the morning, till the stars appear" (2 Esdras 21 .) Two things are needful to us,
namely, that we be earnest in our good works, and therefore well do the builders say: "Let
us do the work." What work is this, but that of which the Apostle says: "While we have
time, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of the faith" (Gal.
VI, 10.) Well do they say: Let us do the work, not our representatives. And in another
passage: In all things let us show ourselves as the ministers of God. But Mary did not
commission a nurse, or a representative, but showed herself always a handmaid to the
Lord, as St. Augustine testifies: "Mary without doubt was a worker, who bore Him in her
womb, and when He was brought forth, nourished and nursed Him, laid Him in the
manger, and during the whole of His infancy served Him as a loving Mother, so that even
to the death of the cross she never left Him." Not only did she follow Him by her footsteps,
as from the love of a son, but also by the imitation of His life, as out of reverence for a
Lord." It is needful for us, not only to be instant in good works, but also to resist vices; and
therefore well do they add that the lances should be held; for we should hold the lance of
zeal against the attacks of vice, against the attacks of the devil, the flesh, and the world.

Of these lances it is well said in Jeremias: "Furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail."
By the coat of mail of justice we are protected, but with the lance or spear of zeal we
attack evil. If thou dost not launch the spear of zeal in this world against evil, God will use
the lance His zeal against thee on judgment day. Therefore it is said in the Book of
Wisdom: "He will sharpen His dire wrath as a spear" (Wisd. V, 21 . ) Oh, what a warrior
was Mary, whose holy zeal was her spear. St. Bernard says to her: "Thou wert a
formidable warrior, for thou wert the first manfully to attack him who had supplanted the
first Eve." Therefore, that we may faithfully persist in good works manfully resist vices, it is
needful for us to look on the example of Mary, to implore the suffrages of Mary. Then, as it
were from the rising of the morning, we work, when being irradiated by the example and
the life of Mary, when being illuminated by the patronage and the mercy of Mary, we are
incited to good. We ought to work well till the rising of the stars, that is, until our souls,
having become lightsome like stars, go forth from our bodies and fly to the stars. But
above every star that ever appeared, above every star that ever will come forth in the
heavens, the most splendid is Mary, our aurora, our morning, as St. Bernard testifies,
saying: "Thou art the most vivid image of the true Sun, amongst the myriads of stars that
are before God, thou shinest forth gloriously in Heaven by thy virginal purity." Thus you
see how fittingly Mary is called the morning, the aurora. The Lord is with thee, O Mary, as
the sun is with the dawn. Therefore, O Lady, most sweet morning, our Lady, most sweet
Mary, let us be with the Sun of Justice, our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who with the
Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.

CHAPTER XII - MARY A ROD OR STEM, AND A FLOWERING STEM

"The Lord is with thee." Having seen how the Lord was with Mary, as the sun is with the
dawn which goes before it, let us now see how the Lord is with Mary as the flower is with
the budding stem. For Mary is that rod of which it is said in Isaias: "There shall come forth
a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from that root, and the Spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel
and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of piety, and He shall be filled with the spirit of
the fear of the Lord" (Is. XI.) Let us place these words before the eye of our mind, and
direct our consideration first to the rod and then to the flower.

First consider, that this rod, this royal rod, is the Virgin Mary, as St. Ambrose testifies,
saying in speaking to the Blessed Virgin: "Thou thyself, who hast brought forth the Lord,
art of the land of Israel; thou hast grown into a rod, the rod from the root of Jesse; thou
hast arisen and flowered, O rod of Aaron; thou hast flowered and brought forth." For Mary
is a rod smoking with incense, a rod of wood, a rod of gold, a rod of iron. Mary is a rod
smoking to beginners, a rod of wood to those who are advancing, a rod of gold to the
perfect, a rod of iron to the incorrigible and the demons.

I say that the Virgin Mary is as a smoking rod to beginners and to penitents. Of this rod it
is said in the Canticle of Canticles: "Who is she that cometh up from the desert, as a pillar
of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the
perfumer?" (Cant. Ill, 6.) The desert is the heart of the sinner, which is indeed devoid of
grace and virtue. The aromatical spice, the sweet incense of the soul, is the aspiration of
hope for pardon. The Blessed Virgin Mary, therefore, came up from the desert as a pillar
of smoke, when, by her prayers, the heart of the sinner received the smoking incense of
pardon. This smoke is generated from the aromatical myrrh of contrition, and of incense in
confession, and from all the powders of the perfumer in manifold satisfactions. No desert
doth the Virgin Mary abhor, no sinner doth she despise; but wherever she passes, she
spreads the sweet incense of pardon. Excellently, therefore, does St. Bernard say: "Thou
dost not abhor or despise any sinner, however foul, if he but sighs to thee, and begs with
a repentant heart for thy pardon; thou drawest him from the abyss of despair with thy
loving hand, thou breathest upon him the remedy of hope, and embracest him, the outcast
of all the world, with maternal affection, thou cherishest him and dost not desert him, until
he is reconciled with the tremendous Judge."

Again, Mary is the rod of wood, the rod which is flowering to those who are advancing. Of
this rod it is said in the Book of Wisdom that the rod of Aaron, which was of wood, bore
fruit and flowers. By the flowers are signified virtues, which, after the passing of the
devilish winter, rise up in hearts, as it is well said in the Canticle: "Now the winter is over
and gone, and flowers have appeared in our land." Let the winter, therefore pass, let that
torpor in which charity grows cold, pass, and then the flower of virtue will appear again.

Oh, with what flowers the flowering Virgin hath abounded, as St. Bernard says, speaking
to her: "Thou art as a garden-plot of holy perfumes, planted by the heavenly Perfumer,
delectably flourishing with the flowers of all virtues." As flowers signify virtues, so fruits
denote the works of the virtues. Of these it is well said: "By their fruits you shall know

them." When, therefore, we advance in virtues and in the works of the virtues, we advance
by the examples and merits of Mary, and then the Virgin Mary is to us a rod of wood,
flowering and fruitful.

Likewise the Virgin Mary is to the perfect and contemplative a golden rod. We read that
Esther; with two maidens went to King Assuerus, and when she had become faint from
exceeding fear, the King held out to her the golden scepter to console her. Esther means
"raised up" or "hidden," and is a figure of the contemplative soul, whom God raises up in
contemplation and hides in the hidden place of His face from the tumult of men. This soul
by contemplation enters into Christ the King. The two maidens by whose help she enters
are the two powers of the soul, the intellect, which proceeds by way of knowledge, and the
affections, which follow by love. The soul which has thus entered into Christ, sometimes
faints away by a kind of stupor, when she recognizes the inaccessible brightness of the
divine glory, or the terrible severity of the divine justice. The golden rod, the royal scepter,
is the Virgin Mary. Golden indeed by her charity, royal by her nobility; golden by her purity,
royal by her justice; golden by her incorruption and virginal integrity, royal by her
domination and power. This is the happy rod, which is extended with clemency to comfort
the contemplative soul, when the happy Virgin Mary, by contemplation and devotion of this
soul, which is so loving and sweet, enters into it; so that from this the soul is strengthened
against fear of the divine splendor and justice. The contemplative soul of St. Anselm
desired this rod to be extended to it, when he exclaimed: "O Virgin fair to look upon,
lovable to contemplate, delightful to love, who transcendest the capacity of the heart, give
thyself, O Lady, to the weak soul who followeth thee."

Likewise the Virgin Mary is as an iron rod to the demons and incorrigible sinners. To this
rod we may apply that word of the Psalm: "Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron." O
Mary, rod of gold to the perfect, rod of gold to the hard, rod of gold to men, rod of iron and
hard to the demons, keep the demons from us I This, Lady, we ask, and we ask it devoutly
with Innocent: "Hail, loving Mother of God, who from the dignity by which thou art Mother
of God, hast power to restrain the demons, restrain the demons lest they hurt us;
command the angels to guard us." Thus, therefore, the Blessed Virgin Mary is to us a rod
of smoke or incense in our conversion, a flowering rod in our lives, a golden rod in our
contemplation, an iron rod in our defense. St. Bernard, admiring and worthily
contemplating this rod, saith: "O Virgin, sublime rod, to how great a height thou raisest thy
summit even unto Him who sitteth on the throne, unto the Lord of Majesty, for thou castest
deep down thy roots in humility."

Let us now consider the flower of this rod; let us consider in the royal rod, and in the Virgin
Mary a fourfold flower, a precious flower, a flower of virginity, of virtuous reputation, of
miraculous fecundity, and of glorious immortality.

Of this flower consider, first, in Mary the flower of precious virginity, which is virginity itself.
Of this it is said in Isaias: "The desert shall rejoice and shall flower as a lily." Mary can
fittingly be said to be a desert, who was so willing to be alone, who was in her voluntary
solitude visited by an angel. Therefore St. Ambrose well says: "Alone in the inner part of
her house, she whom no man could see, he found her alone without a companion, alone

without a witness." In what manner this desert, the Virgin Mary, should rejoice, let her say
herself: "And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." This desert of earth flowered like a
lily by virginity. O angelical lily! O heavenly flower! O truly heavenly flower! Whom that
supercelestial Bee hath so loved. For St. Bernard saith: "That Bee who feedeth among the
lilies, who dwelt in a flowering fatherland, when He flew to Nazareth, which is interpreted a
flower, flew towards thee, and came to the sweet smelling flower of thy perpetual virginity,
he rested upon it, he embraced it." The flower of virginity has as many petals, so to speak,
as the conditions and praises of virginity. Oh, how greatly the crowns of this flower were
multiplied by Mary! St. Ambrose says: "In the whole world the flower Mary weaves
unfading crowns, and keeps the royal court of purity with immaculate affection, until
integrity perseveres to the palm of victory, that in maidens it may grasp the trophy of
sanctity, and in the footprints of the Virgin Mary, attain to the heavenly bridal chamber."

Secondly, consider in Mary the flower of virtuous reputation, of manners and of life, and
hear what she herself says: "My flowers are the fruits of honor and riches" (Ecclus. XXIV,
23.) Of these it is also said: "Our bed is flowering." Behold, we find flowers in the earth,
and in the bed. The earth is the mind of the active (souls); the bed is the mind of
contemplatives. The earth, I say, is the mind bearing fruit in good actions; but the bed is
the mind seeking quiet in contemplation. Let the mind be active, or let it be contemplative,
it should always be beautiful with flowers. Note also that the flower of honesty, of a good
reputation, yea, the flower of any virtue has, as it were, as many petals as it has good and
meritorious works to show. Oh, how flowering was that earth, how flowering was the bed
of Mary, who in the flowering virtue of her life flourished in the beauty of every virtue, as
St. Bernard testifies, saying: "Thou art the casket of holy perfumes, O Mary, gathered by
the heavenly Perfumer, delightfully blooming with the beautiful flowers of every virtue,
among which three are excellent above all, the violet of humility, the lily of chastity, and
the rose of charity."

Thirdly, consider in Mary the flower of her miraculous fecundity. This flower is the Son of
the Virgin, of whom it is said: "There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a
flower shall arise from its root." Oh, how beautifully this flower came forth, being born
without sin, and how sadly was it crushed by dying, as it were like a sinner, according to
that word: "Like a flower he goeth forth and is crushed." Oh, how white in His going forth,
and how ruddy in His bruising was this flower! A flower, I say, delightful to the angels and
most useful to men for life. St. Bernard saith: "The flower is the Son of the Virgin, a flower
white and ruddy, a flower on whom the angels long to look, a flower by whose perfume
mortals live again." Happy the wood which produces such a flower! Happier the stem or
rod which in the wood produces this flower! Happy above all the flower, without whom
there can neither be wood nor rod happy! Truly a most happy flower, in which the Holy
Ghost so rested that without Him no one could have the grace of the Spirit. St. Jerome
testifies to this, saying: "The Holy Ghost, who in the vast wood of the human race had
found no rest, at last rested upon this flower, so that without Christ no one could be wise,
no one could have understanding, or counsel, or fortitude, or learning, or piety, or the fear
of the Lord." This flower has, as it were, as many petals as it had ministries and examples.
If thou desirest to have this flower, thou must bend its stem down to thee by prayer. If the
flower is exceedingly high by its divinity, the stem is flexible by its love. And if the flower is

most rare, because neither in Heaven nor on earth is there found another one, it is
nevertheless most common, like a flower not enclosed in a garden, but in a field exposed
to all passersby. Therefore, well could Christ say: "I am the flower of the field." He can be
called a flower of the field, not only because it is openly exposed to the view of all, but also
because it is produced without human culture. This St. Bernard hath in mind when he
says: "The field flourishes without any human aid, it is not sowed by anyone, not harrowed
by the plough, not made fertile with manure; thus indeed did the womb of the Virgin flower,
so did the chaste and entire interior of Mary like pastures of eternal greenness produce
Him whose beauty sees not corruption, whose glory will never fade."

Fourthly, consider the flower of gracious immortality, of which it is said in Numbers that the
rod of Aaron bore at the same time both flowers and fruit. The rod of Aaron prefigures the
Virgin Mary. In the straightness of the rod is prefigured the integrity of Mary; in the flower,
the beauty of her glorified body; and in the fruit, the beatitude of her soul. It is to be noted
that in youth the body is most beautiful, as it is said: "In the morning it blooms and fades."
But the flower perishes in death, as it is said in Isaias: "The grass is withered, and the
flower is fallen." It will flower again in a glorious resurrection, according to the Psalmist:

"My flesh has flowered again." This flower of the glorification of the body has, as it were,
as many petals as the glorified body has gifts and rewards. And certainly the holy Doctors
seem to hold it as probable, and strive with some show of reason to prove, and the pious
sense of the faithful always held, that the Blessed Virgin was taken up body and soul into
Heaven, and that her body and soul are now in glory. St. Augustine says: "I hold that Mary
is in Christ and with Christ; in Christ, because in Him we live and move and have our
being; with Christ, because she is assumed into glory." Therefore we worthily believe that
Mary rejoices with ineffable joy both in body and soul, in her own Son, by her own Son;
nor has she ever felt the sting of corruption because no stain was communicated to her
integrity in bringing forth her Son, because she begot Him who is the whole and perfect
life of all; let her be with Him, whom she bore in her womb; let her be with Him, who bore
Him, nursed Him, and fed Him. Mary is the Mother of God, the servant of God, the nurse
of God, the follower of God. According to this belief she can now say: "My flesh hath
flowered again." And according to this she has at the same time both fruit and flowers: as
flower, her glorified body; and for fruit, her glorified spirit. A flower indeed in the beauty of
her glorious body; and fruit in the unspeakable pleasure of her soul. We must note that,
according to the aforesaid fourfold flower, the Virgin Mary has a fourfold flower of virginity,
and a fourfold flower of fecundity; she has the flower of good repute and the flower of
humility; she has at the same time in her Child the flower of humanity and the fruit of the
divinity; she has at the same time the flower of immortality in the body and the fruit of
blessed pleasure in the soul. Let us, therefore, discern these flowers in the virginal rod,
and gather these new flowers of joy from the virginal garden, which St. Bernard saw
gathered and commended to us, when, speaking to Mary, he said: "Thy most holy womb,
O Mary, is to us a garden of delights; because from it we gather the flowers of manifold
joys as often as we think in our minds how great a sweetness flowed thence over the
entire world." Therefore, most sweet Virgin Mary, behold, the Lord is truly with thee, as the
flower is with the stem which produced it. Grant that the Lord may also be with me, yea,
with all of us, and give to us this flower, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

CHAPTER XIII - MARY COMPARED TO A QUEEN ENTERING INTO THE PALACE
WITH THE KING

The Lord is with thee, O Lady most dear to the Lord, most intimate with the Lord! The Lord
is with thee, O most well-fitted Lady, most worthy of the Lord! The Lord is with thee: with
thee most certainly, according to what has been said above, as the sun is with the dawn
which precedes it, as the flower is with the stem which produces it, as the king is with the
queen entering into his palace.

Having seen how Mary is as the dawn to the eternal Sun, preventing the Sun of justice;
having seen also how Mary is as the stem or rod to the eternal flower, producing the
flower of mercy; let us now consider in what manner Mary is the Queen of the Eternal
King, entering into glory.

Mary is that Queen entering in, of whom it is said that the queen entered into Jerusalem
with a great company and with riches (3 Kings, X, 1 .) Truly Mary is a queen. St. Augustine
says: "We truly confess her to be the Queen of Heaven, because she brought forth the
King of angels." I have spoken of this Queen in my sermon, "The Queen stood, etc.";
therefore, I will now speak of her entrance.

We are to consider, therefore, that we find Mary going in, going forth, going on, and going
above. Her going forth was of nature, her progress was of grace, her entrance was into
glory, her elevation was in abundance.

She went forth by being born, she progressed by advancing in grace and virtue, she
entered in by attaining, she surpassed all by her sanctity. She went forth without sin, she
made progress beyond all example, she entered in without obstacle, she surpassed all
without limits.

First consider that we find Mary going forth into the world by her nativity without sin....

Secondly, consider that we find Mary advancing without equal by her grace. Therefore it is
said in the Canticle: "Who is she that cometh forth as the rising dawn, fair as the moon,
bright as the sun?" (Cant. VI, 9.) To these three luminaries, that is, the dawn, the moon,
and the sun, Mary is fitly compared, for three excellent perfections shine forth in her.
Resplendent virginity was in her mind and heart in a superlative degree; in her virginity
shone forth fecundity, and in her fecundity shone forth a singular pre-eminence. A
refreshing dawn and one pleasing to the birds was Mary; for by her virginity she. cooled
the ardor of the flesh, as St. Bernard says, speaking to her: "By the virtue of chastity thou
didst extinguish in thy virginal flesh the ardor of the forbidden concupiscence, that He, in
whose sight even the stars are not pure, judged thy flesh to be of such purity that He
deigned to unite it to His own divine purity." She also by her virginity was pleasing to the
birds of heaven, that is, to the angels of God, for, as St. Jerome says: "Virginity is always
related to the angels." Therefore we read that the angel blessed Jacob in the dawn. Jacob
may here signify a chaste spirit, because Jacob supplanted his brother, that is, the body,
his body. He was blessed not only by the angel, but also by his father, in the dawn, or in

the morning, that is, in the chaste Virgin Mary, to whom the angel said: "Blessed art thou
among women." Likewise Mary was fair as the moon in the lightgiving fecundity of her
virginity; for the beauty of the moon consists in the light it receives from the sun. Think,
therefore, what a beautiful moon was Mary, when that Eternal Sun was wholly received
and conceived in her. Mary, therefore, is that moon in whose fullness that Man returned to
the Church of whom it is said: "In the day of the full moon he will return to his house"

(Prov. VII, 20.) The Blessed Virgin was the full moon, when it was said to her: "Hail, full of
grace!" Again Mary was chosen as the sun in the illumining privilege of her fecundity,
when not mere man alone, nor a real angel, but the Son of God Himself placed in her His
tabernacle, when He was conceived in Mary. Without doubt it would have been most
singular if the Virgin had conceived a mere man; but it would have been much more
singular if the Virgin had conceived an angel. It was singular above all that a virgin
conceived and brought forth God. Well, therefore, doth St. Augustine say: "Rightly is the
Blessed Mary extolled by us with extraordinary praise, who has shown to the world so
extraordinary a benefit, when she is raised to so sublime a height that, while the Word was
from the beginning abiding with God, she should yet receive Him into her bosom from the
highest heavens." The Blessed Virgin Mary, therefore, has advanced like the rising
morning, in admirable virginity of mind and body; bright as the sun, in the adorable divinity
of her virginal offspring.

Thirdly, consider that we find Mary entering into the glory of Heaven without obstacle. For
what could have opposed such a great queen advancing with so great a retinue? She was
prefigured by the Queen of Saba, of whom it is said: "Entering into Jerusalem with a great
train, and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold and
precious stones" (3 Kings X, 2.) Consider in these words the glory of Mary entering into
the heavenly Jerusalem. Consider, I say, the excellence of her who enters, her power and
her wealth. Consider the excellence of the primacy of our Queen Mary, insomuch as she
is compared to the Queen of Saba, which signifies a cry. For Mary is the Queen of the
world, where there is a cry of mourning. She is also the Queen of Heaven, where there is
a cry of joy. For the dwellers in Heaven cry out, as it is said in the Apocalypse: "Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty!" And this Queen of those who cry out ceases not herself to cry
out with the others, as St. Augustine says: "Thou, O Mary, fellow-citizen of the inhabitants
of Heaven, being endlessly associated with the angels and archangels, ceasest not to cry
out with untiring voice: "Holy, holy, holy!" She indeed is the queen whom the Psalmist
describes, saying: "The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing, surrounded with
variety" (Ps. XLIV, 10.) All can follow this Queen with confidence into the kingdom who
have faithfully served her in this world. St. Bernard says: "Our Queen has gone before us:
she has gone before us and has been so gloriously received that her servants may
confidently cry out: 'Draw me after thee.' "Likewise consider in the entering in of our
Queen the power of the retinue accompanying her, for it says: "with a multitudinous
retinue." Mary entered into the heavenly Jerusalem with a multitudinous retinue of angelic
powers. St. Jerome says: "We read how the angels have come to the death and burial of
some of the Saints, and how they have accompanied the souls of the elect to Heaven with
hymns and praises." And he adds: "How much more should we believe that the heavenly
army, with all its bands, came forth rejoicing in festive array, to meet the Mother of God,

surrounded her with effulgent light, and led her with praises and canticles to the throne
prepared for her from the beginning of the world."

Likewise, consider in Mary the wealth of her merits, as it were in a dower of precious gifts:
for she brought with her infinite gold in her love of God and of her neighbor, the precious
gems of virtues and gifts, the spices of good works and examples. What I say of the
treasures of Mary is little compared with what St. Bernard says. "In thy hands," he says,
speaking to Mary, "are all the treasures of the mercies of the Lord. God forbid that thy
hand should cease to give; for thy glory is not diminished, but augmented, when sinners
are pardoned and the justified are taken up into glory." The Mother of God, therefore,
entered into glory, as the Queen of Heaven, accompanied by a vast retinue of angels, with
innumerable riches of merit.

Fourthly, consider that we find her surpassing all the Saints in the superabundance of her
merits and rewards without end, according to the saying: "Many daughters have gathered
together riches, thou hast surpassed them all." Thou hast indeed surpassed them in
nature, in grace, in glory; thou hast surpassed all the daughters of men, all souls, all
angelical intelligences, O Mary. I say that Mary in nature has surpassed all the daughters
of men, for what nature does not admit of, she, a virgin, conceived, and brought forth,
according to that word: "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son." And it was
not this alone that is above all nature, that a virgin should bring forth a son, but that she
should bring forth God. Therefore, St. Jerome says: "What nature does not possess, what
custom wants not, what reason knows nothing of, what the human mind cannot grasp,
what the heavens fear, what the earth is astonished at, all this was what was divinely
announced by the Angel Gabriel to Mary, and was fulfilled in Christ." Likewise, Mary
surpassed in grace all the souls of the Saints, for she was not only full of grace, but
overfull (superplena), as Gabriel signified, who said at first, "full of grace," and afterwards
added: "And the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee." If, therefore, she was full of grace,
whatever the Holy Spirit brought her afterwards was more than full measure; she was then
more than full, she was surpassingly full (superplena). St. Bernard says: "While the Holy
Spirit was coming, she was full of grace for herself (plena sibi); but when the Holy Spirit
had come upon her, she was overfull and overflowed with grace for our sakes (superplena
nobis)." So Mary surpassed in glory all the angelical intelligences; for she is the sapphire
throne which, as we read in Ezechiel, is raised above the angelic firmament. St. Bernard
says: "Mary ascended above every heavenly creature; up to the angels and even above
these." So, therefore, Mary went forth, and advanced, and entered in, and went beyond
all. She went forth, I say, by coming into this mortal life; she advanced in grace and
privileges; she entered in by attaining to the Heavenly Kingdom; she surpassed all by
exceeding the glory of all the blessed. Behold, therefore, O most sweet Virgin Mary, the
Lord is truly with thee, as the sun is with the dawn which goes before it, as the flower is
with the flowering stem, as the King is with the Queen entering in. O most sweet aurora,
grant that the Sun of justice may also be with us! O most sublime Rod, grant that with us
also may be the flower of grace! O most powerful Queen, grant that the King of glory, Our
Lord Jesus Christ, may stay with us!

CHAPTER XIV - MARY IS BLESSED ON ACCOUNT OF HER FULLNESS OF GRACE,
THE MAJESTY OF HER OFFSPRING, THE MULTITUDE OF HER MERCIES, THE
GREATNESS OF HER GLORY

Blessed art thou among women. It has been shown how Mary, because of the innocence
of her life, is saluted by the Ave: it has also been shown how she is rightly called "full of
grace," because of the most copious affluence of her grace; it has moreover been shown
how, because of the special presence of Our Lord with her, she is saluted with the words
"The Lord is with thee." Now we have to show how, because of the most pleasing
reverence of her person, she is hailed as "Blessed among women." Behold, therefore, that
the Archangel Gabriel by saluting the glorious Virgin Mary with a glorious salutation, most
fittingly consummated her blessedness by saying, "Blessed art thou among women," that
is, more blessed than all women. And by this, whatever of malediction was infused into
our nature by Eve was taken away by the blessing of Mary. Let Gabriel therefore say:
"Blessed art thou among women"; blessed, I say, because of the fullness of grace to be
venerated in thee; blessed, because of the greatness of the mercy to be bestowed by
thee; blessed, because of the majesty of the Person who is to take flesh of thee; blessed,
because of the weight of glory which is to be accumulated in thee.

First, consider how Mary is truly blessed because of the fullness of grace to be venerated
in her, as Gabriel shows most aptly when he says: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with
thee; blessed art thou among women." Blessed art thou, because thou art full of grace.
Thou hast found grace with God, and therefore thou art blessed with the Lord. St. Bernard
well says of this blessedness of Mary: "By thee we have access to thy Son, O blessed
among women, finder of grace, Mother of life, Mother of salvation." Blessed art thou, O
Mary, because of grace. Blessed, I say, because of the grace of the heart, of the lips, of
the work. Blessed in heart, because of the grace of gifts; blessed in mouth, because of the
grace of the lips; blessed in work, because of the grace of manners. Truly is Mary blessed
because of the grace of the heart, for the grace of her gifts in her heart; for her heart was
as the most delightful paradise of God, so that of this blessedness could be understood
that word of Ecclesiasticus: "Grace is like a paradise in blessing." Here the commentary
says: "Bearing fruit in the different species of virtues." Of these happy degrees and
blessings of virtues the Apostle says: "Who hath blessed us in all spiritual blessings in the
heavenly places in Christ." If, therefore, grace makes the mind of man delightful as the
paradise of God in the blessings of virtues, how much more delightful must the soul of
Mary be, that Paradise of God, in the blessings of the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Yea, verily,
not only was the mind of Mary a Paradise of God, but also her bosom, containing within
itself the tree of life, Jesus Christ. St. Bernard says: "Truly thou art the Paradise of God,
who hast brought forth to the world the Tree of Life, of which he who shall eat shall live
forever." Alas, how far from this blessedness of Mary is he whose mind is not a paradise
of God in the blessings of grace, but a sink of the devils in the curse of malice! Of such is
it said in the Psalm: "He loved cursing, and it shall come unto him: and he would not have
blessing, and it was removed far from him" (Ps. CVIII, 18.)

Again, Mary is blessed, not only because of the gifts of her heart, but also because of the
grace of her lips, according to that word of the Psalm: "Grace is poured abroad in thy lips,

therefore hath God blessed thee forever." Oh, how great a grace was on the lips of Mary,
in devout prayers, in useful conversations! Oh, how great a grace was always on the lips
of Mary, for men, for angels, for the Lord! St. Bernard tells us how pleasing to God were
the words of her lips, saying: "Him whom thou hast pleased by thy silence, thou shalt
henceforth please much more by thy words, for He cries to thee from Heaven: 'O most
beautiful of women, let me hear thy voice.' " Oh, how true, how sincere, were the lips of
Mary, and therefore God truly hath blessed her forever. Oh, how far from the blessedness
of Mary are they whose lips are so unlike hers, on whose lips grace is not poured, but
malice; therefore, God hath not blessed, but cursed them forever.

Again, Mary is blessed not only because of the gifts of her heart and of her lips, but also
because of the grace of her life and conversation. Of this blessedness can be understood
what is said in Jeremias: "May the Lord bless thee, beauty of justice, holy mountain." The
holy mountain is Mary, who is fitly called a mountain because of the loftiness of her life
and manners. This is the mountain of which we read in Daniel: "A stone was cut out
without hands" (Dan. II, 45.) This was when Christ was born of Mary without male co-
operation. The beauty of this mountain is the beauty of justice. So great was the beauty of
the life and manners of Mary that it could justly be said of her as in the Canticle: "Thou art
all fair, O my beloved." She was beautiful indeed, in her life; beautiful in the discipline of
her manners; and all beautiful. Without doubt all in her was beautiful. How all? Hear St.
Jerome: "Whatever was in Mary, was all purity and simplicity, all grace and truth, all mercy
and justice, which looked down from Heaven." Rightly did the Lord bless such beauty in
Mary. Alas, how far are they from this blessing of Mary of whom it may be said, not what
was said to Mary, "May the Lord bless thee, thou beauty of justice," but, "May the Lord
curse thee, thou vileness of injustice!" Oh, what a malediction that will be when it will be
said: "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!" Behold, we have seen, O most
dear Mary, that thou art truly blessed because of thy fullness of grace. Blessed, I say,
because of the grace of conscience and of gifts; blessed, because of the grace of the
tongue and of the lips; blessed, because of the grace of thy life and thy manners.

Secondly, consider how truly Mary is blessed because of the majesty of her heavenly
Child, because of the blessed fruit of her womb. Rightly is that land blessed which
produces so blessed a fruit. The Psalmist says: "Thou hast blessed, O Lord, thy land."
That land is Mary, of whom it is said in the same Psalm: "Truth has sprung up from the
earth." The Truth is Christ, who said: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life." Blessed,
therefore, is this earth, because of its blessed fruit; blessed is Mary, because of her
blessed Son. Therefore St. Bernard says: "Not because thou art blessed, is the fruit of thy
womb blessed; but because He hath prevented thee in the blessings of sweetness,
therefore art thou blessed." Mary is blessed because of her Divine Child. Blessed, I say,
by the Lord, by the Angel, by man. Because of her Child she is indeed blessed by the
Lord, who is Himself her blessing; blessed by the Angel, who announces her blessing;
blessed by man, who prophesies her blessing. Truly is Mary blessed by the Lord because
of her Child, who Himself is and gives her blessing. This is well signified in the second
Book of Kings, where we read: "The Lord blessed Obededom because of the Ark."
Obededom is interpreted "Servant of blood."

Well doth he signify Christ, who, having become our servant, serves us miserable sinners
even unto blood. For our sake He became a slave, and shed His blood-the blood of His
back by the scourge; the blood of His head by the thorns; the blood of His side by the
lance; the blood of His hands and feet by the nails. The house of this servant is Mary, of
whom it is said in the Psalm: "We shall be filled with the good things of His house." The
ark placed in that house signifies Christ, for Christ is our servant and our life. In the ark
was the golden urn and the manna. The holy ark is the sacred flesh; the golden urn is the
precious soul of Christ; and the manna signifies His divinity. Because of this ark, because
of Jesus Christ, the Son of Mary, the Lord blessed the house of Mary. O truly blessed
house, from whence the life of all hath come forth! St. Augustine says: "Blessed art thou
among women, who hast brought forth life to men and women."

Likewise, Mary is blessed because of her Child, not only by the Lord Himself being her
blessing, but also by the Angel announcing her blessing. Gabriel says: "The Lord is with
thee, blessed art thou among women." How "with thee"? St. Augustine explains: "With
thee in heart, in the womb." Therefore, blessed art thou together with Him, because He is
in thee and with thee. With thee, not only as the Creator is with His creature, but also as
the Child is with her who is to bring Him forth. Because of thy Child, thou art blessed
before thy delivery; because of thy Child, thou art blessed in bringing forth; because of thy
Child, thou art blessed after bringing forth. Truly blessed art thou, who hast so brought
forth thy Child that before His birth, and in His birth, and after His birth, thou hast remained
a virgin; and therefore thou hast deserved to be called blessed, because thou hast
brought forth not a mere man, not an angel, but the Lord of men and angels. Therefore St.
Bede well says: "Truly art thou blessed among women, who without example in
womankind rejoicest in the honor of a mother and the beauty of virginity, and as becomes
a virgin mother, thou hast given life to the Son of God."

Again, Mary is blessed because of her Child, not only by the Lord Himself being her
blessing, not only by the Angel announcing her blessing, but by man prophesying her
blessing. Elizabeth, when the infant in her womb exulted, cried out and said: "Blessed art
thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." Therefore, thou art blessed
indeed, because the fruit of thy womb is blessed; as a field is blessed because the fruit of
it is blessed. Mary is that blessed field of which it is said: "Behold the smell of my son is as
the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed" (Gen. XXVII, 27.) St. Jerome
says: "Well is Mary called a full field, because she is said to be full of grace, from whose
womb the Fruit of life came forth to all believers." O field truly blessed above all fields
because of its fruit! O Mother truly blessed above all mothers because of thy Son! St.
Augustine exclaims: "O Woman blessed above all women, who knew not man, yet
encompassed a Man in her womb!" Behold we have seen, O most sweet Mary, that thou,
because of the blessed Son of thy womb, art truly blessed with a divine blessing, an
angelic blessing, and a human blessing ! Alas, how far from this blessing of Mary are
those who, because of the accursed fruit of their work, have incurred the divine
malediction, the curse of angels and of men; for all eternity they will be cursed by God,
cursed by angels, cursed by men.

Thirdly, think how truly Mary is blessed because of the multitude of her mercy. She is
signified by Ruth, of whom it is said: "Blessed art thou by the Lord, because thy former
mercy hath surpassed the latter." The former mercy of Mary was that which she showed
while she still lived in this world; the latter mercy is that which she has now shown for
centuries from Heaven. The latter blessing has surpassed the former, because she has
exceeded it by an innumerable multitude of blessings. Who can reckon how inestimably
Mary is blessed because of her mercy, when her mercy in itself is inestimable? And who
can reckon how inestimable is the mercy of Mary, on account of which she herself is so
inestimably blessed? St. Bernard says: "Blessed, therefore, is Mary for the manifold mercy
which man received through her; blessed indeed, because by her, God was induced to be
favorable to man; blessed is she also, because by her, man was made acceptable to God;
blessed, moreover, is she, because by her, the devil was overcome." I say that Mary is
blessed because by her, God was induced to be favorable to man, as is signified in the
example of Abigail, of whom we read, that when David, being angry, wanted to kill the fool
Nabal, Abigail, meeting him half-way, appeased him; who being appeased, said: "Blessed
be thy speech, and blessed be thou, who hast kept me to-day from coming to blood, and
revenging me with my own hand" (I Kings XXV, 32 f.) The fool Nabal signifies the sinner;
for every sinner is a fool. But, alas, as it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "The number of fools is
infinite" (I, 15). Abigail signifies Mary, for the name is interpreted, "joy of the father." Oh,
how great was the joy of the heavenly Father in Mary, and that of Mary in the heavenly
Father, when she herself said: "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." As Abigail
typifies Our Lady, so David typifies Our Lord. For David was offended by the fool Nabal,
when the Lord was offended by guilty man. David was appeased by the fool Nabal, when
the Lord was appeased and reconciled to guilty man by Mary. Abigail appeased David by
words and gifts; Mary appeased the Lord by her prayers and merits. Abigail turned away
temporal vengeance, but Mary turned away that which was eternal; the former averted the
sword of man, the latter, that of God. Therefore St. Bernard well says: "No one was so
fitting, Lady, to turn away the sword of the Lord by their own hand, as thou, the most
beloved of God, through whom we first received mercy from the hand of the Lord, our
God." Likewise, Mary is blessed not only because by her God's wrath with man was
appeased, but also because by her man was made acceptable to God, inasmuch as man
was blessed because of her blessing. Therefore, is it well said in Isaias: "Israel will be a
blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts hath blessed, saying, 'Blessed
be my people,' " etc. The middle of the earth which the Lord blessed can be said to be the
Blessed Virgin, in whom was begun the blessing of our salvation, according to that word of
the Psalmist: "But God our King hath wrought salvation in the middle of the earth." Of this
middle of the earth, St. Bernard says: "With wonderful fitness is Mary called the middle of
the earth; for towards her, as to the center, as to the ark of God, as to the cause of things,
as to the business of the world, look all those who dwell in Heaven and in hell, and those
who have gone before us, and those who follow us. Those who are in Heaven, that they
may be repaired; those who are in hell, that they may be delivered; those who went
before, that prophets may be found trustworthy; those who follow, that they may be
glorified." In this blessed middle of the earth, therefore, blessed is Israel, blessed is the
people of God, since by the blessed Mother of God, it is acceptable to God. What wonder
if by the blessed Mary every rational creature is blessed and acceptable to God, since by
her is blessed every creature? Therefore St. Anselm exclaims: "O Virgin blessed, and

more than blessed, by whose blessing every creature is blessed, not only the creature by
the Creator, but the Creator by the creature."

Again, Mary is not only blessed because by her the Lord has been appeased towards
man, but also because by her the devil has been rendered subject to man. She is,
therefore, signified by Judith, of whom it is said: "The Lord hath blessed thee in his power,
who by thee has reduced our enemies to naught." Our enemies are the demons, whom
the Blessed Virgin reduced to naught when, in herself and in many others, she brought his
wiles to naught, as St. Bernard says: "Thou formidable warrior"; and again: "The entire
militia of evil spirits has been put to flight before thee." Let us, therefore, fly, and fly all
together to the protection of the Mother of the Lord, in all the attacks and vexations of the
devil. For she is terrible to the enemies of our souls, as an army in battle array. Alas, how
manifold is our misery, for which we need the blessing and mercy of Mary. Let us,
therefore, invoke this mercy and this blessing with St. Bernard, who speaks thus: "Let it be
thine, O blessed Virgin, that grace which thou hast merited from God, to show to the world
pardon to the guilty, healing to the sick, strength to the faint-hearted, help and deliverance
to pilgrims, by obtaining all these favors by thy prayers."

We have seen, O most sweet Mary, that thou art truly blessed because of thy manifold
mercy. Blessed, I say, because by thee God is appeased towards man.; blessed art thou,
because by thee man is made pleasing to God; blessed art thou, because by thee the
devil is overcome by man. Alas, how far from this blessing of Mary is one who is not
pleasing to God, one towards whom God's wrath is not appeased, one who is willingly
subject to the devil. And therefore such a one is accursed of God; Fourthly, consider how
truly Mary is blessed because of the greatness of her glory, according to that word of
Ezechiel: "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from its place." The glory of the Lord is the
glorious Mother of God, who is truly blessed because of the glory which she possesses
from her twofold place. She is blessed from the place wherein she rests with her Son in
Heaven; and she is blessed from the place wherein her Son rested within her. Both these
places are most worthy, as St. Bernard proves, saying: "There was not in the world a more
venerable place than the virginal bride-chamber into which Mary received the Son of God;
nor in Heaven, than the regal throne to which the Son of Mary elevated Mary." Blessed is
Mary, therefore, because of her glory; blessed indeed because of her most sublime, most
copious, most enduring glory. Blessed, I say, because of her glory most sublime in dignity;
blessed because of her glory most copious in immensity; blessed because of her glory
most enduring in stability. I say that Mary is blessed because of her glory most excellent in
dignity. Of this blessing can be understood that word of the Psalmist: "Thou shalt bless the
crown of the year of thy kindness." Note that there is a year of equanimity, a year of
severity, and a year of benignity. The first year is that of those still fighting in this world;
the second is that of those weeping in hell; and the third is that of those rejoicing in
Heaven. The first year has days and nights; the second has nights, but no days; the third
has days, but no nights. I say that the first year has days and nights, that is, the good and
the bad, who are still in this world. There are as many days and nights in this year as there
are good and evil people in the world. The second year has nights only, that is, only
sinners who are darker than night. For there are as many nights in this year as there are
sinners in hell. The third year has only days, that is, the good, who are more resplendent

than the day. There are as many days in this year as there are just souls in Heaven. In the
first year, that of equanimity, the good and the evil are equally tolerated; in the second
year, that of severity, the evil are most severely tortured; in the third year, that of kindness,
the good are most benignantly crowned. The crown of this blessed year is the Virgin Mary.
She is without doubt the crown of all the days of this year, for she is the crown of all the
Saints in Heaven. A crown is put on the head; so Mary is, as it were, placed over the
heads of all the Saints, as St. Jerome says: "She deserved to be placed above the choirs
of the angels; and she went beyond what is of the nature of our lowliness." Without doubt
the Son of Mary is the highest crown of the Saints; but Mary is a crown below a crown. It
is manifest, therefore, how sublimely blessed is our crown, our Mother Mary. Let us all,
therefore, follow her who is so sublimely blessed, blessed indeed, of whom St. Bernard
says: "We have not here a lasting city, but we seek that to which Mary has blessedly
attained."

Again, Mary is blessed, not only because of the most excellent glory of her dignity, but
because of the most abundant glory in immensity; its fullness is such that it is blessed by
all men, and reaches to all, and, therefore, rightly is it blessed by men, according to what
is said of it by figure in the Book of Judith: "They blessed her with one voice, saying: 'Thou
art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honor of our people."'

They all blessed her indeed. Note that they say all. For this there should be at least three.
And there are three who bless Mary: God, the Angel, and man. God the Father indeed
blessed Mary; the Son blessed His Mother; the Holy Ghost blessed her; all three Persons
blessed her. The Angels also blessed Mary; the first hierarchy blessed her, the second
also, and the third, all blessed her. Man also has blessed Mary; the married have blessed
her; widows blessed her; virgins blessed her; all have blessed her. They have blessed
her, saying: "Thou art the glory of the triumphant Jerusalem, the glory, I say, of all the
Saints; thou art the joy of Israel, contemplating God; thou art the joy, I say, of all the
angels; thou art the honor of our people who are still pilgrims, that is, thou art the honor of
all the just who are in this world. Blessed, therefore, be thy most sweet Son, O Mary, who
by thy abundant blessing bestows such good things on Heaven and on earth, so that the
angels as well as men can rejoice with Anselm, and praise thee, saying: "These great gifts
came through the blessed Fruit of the blessed womb of the blessed Mary."

Again, Mary is blessed not only because of her glory most sublime in dignity, not only
because of her glory most abundant in immensity, but also because of her glory most
enduring in stability. That is signified by the house, spoken of in the First Book of
Paralipomenon: "Thou, O Lord, giving the blessing, it shall be blessed for ever." Truly
forever, as it is said in the Psalm: "Therefore hath God blessed thee forever" (Ps. XLIV.)
Thus, therefore, O sweet Virgin Mary, thou art truly blessed among women, and above
women, yea also above men, nay, even above the angels. Blessed, I say, because of the
fullness of grace which thou hast found; blessed, because of the majesty of the Person
whom thou hast given birth to; blessed, because of the multitude of the mercies which
thou hast shown; blessed, because of the greatness of the glory which thou hast received.
Thee, therefore, O Blessed One, we invoke, we implore, we pray to thee with St. Bernard:
"Grant, O blessed one, by the grace which thou hast found, by the prerogatives which
thou hast merited, by the mercy which thou hast brought forth, that He who through thee

deigned to become a partaker of our weakness and misery, may, by thy intercession,
make us sharers of His heavenly glory. Amen."

CHAPTER XV - MARY IS BLESSED BY THE SEVEN VIRTUES AGAINST THE SEVEN
CAPITAL VICES

Blessed art thou among women. Let us still speak of the blessing of our Blessed Virgin, let
us still hear of it. Happy is the Blessed Mary; unhappy is every accursed soul to whom it
shall be said: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!" Cursed without doubt is
every sinful soul, but blessed art thou, O virtuous Mary. The world incurred malediction by
the seven capital vices; but Mary obtained blessing by the contrary virtues. Blessed,
therefore, art thou among women, O Mary. Blessed by humility against pride, by charity
against envy, by meekness against anger, by diligence against sloth, by temperance
against gluttony, by chastity against lust.

First let us hear how Mary is blessed by humility against pride. For the proud are
accursed, as it is written: "Thou hast rebuked the proud; cursed are they who decline from
thy ways." Against this curse of pride Mary obtained the blessing of humility. Thus she
may be signified by that valley of which it is said in Paralipomenon: "They called that place
the valley of blessing" (2 Paralip. XX, 6.) If every humble soul is, as it were, a valley of
God, according to that word of Isaias, "Every valley shall be filled," how much more was
Mary a valley, who was so deep in humility! What wonder if she were the valley of valleys,
who was the most humble of the humble? Oh, how greatly is this blessed valley exalted
with blessings for her humility, so deep, so useful, so pleasing! St. Augustine says: "O
truly blessed humility of Mary, who brought forth the Lord to men, gave life to mortals,
renewed the heavens, purified the world, opened paradise, and delivered the souls of men
from hell." The deeper a valley is, the more is it a receptacle for waters; so was Mary for
graces. A valley receives irrigation by waters, sometimes from above, sometimes from
below; from above, when the rains flow down from the mountains; from below, when there
are springs of water in it. In like manner the humble Mary received waters, as it were, both
from above and from below; she was, as it were, irrigated from a mountain and from a
spring, when from the divine and from the human nature of her Son so great a blessing of
graces was poured into her. This is that blessing of which we read in the Book of Judges,
when Axa said to her father: "Give me a blessing." Her father gave her a place well
watered from above and from below. Axa was a type of Mary, who received a well-
watered blessing from the heavenly Father. For God the Father gave her a blessing from
above in the divinity of Christ, and from below in His humanity; again from above in her
mind, and from below in her womb; from above in her charity to God, from below in her
love for her neighbor; again from above in contemplation, from below, in action. Or the
heavenly Father gave her an ineffable blessing, from above in Heaven, from below on
earth, that in Heaven she might possess the blessing of glory, and on earth that of grace;
and thus be blessed both in Heaven and on earth, according to what St. Bernard intimates
when he says: "Remember, O Mary, that Christ bore the malediction of the cross, who
blessed thee, His Mother, in Heaven. But thou wert blessed also on earth by the Angel,
and art rightly called blessed on earth by all generations."

Secondly, let us hear how Mary is blessed for charity against envy. The envious are
accursed, as it is said of the envious Cain: "Cursed art thou upon earth, which has opened
its mouth, and received the blood of thy brother from thy hand." Against the curse of envy,

Mary has received the blessing of charity. She may well, therefore, be signified by Sara, of
whom the Lord said: "I will bless her, and out of her I will give thee a son, whom I will
bless" (Gen. XVII, 16.) Sara is interpreted as "coal." This is well suited to Mary, who, like a
coal, was on fire with the ardor of charity. Therefore, the burning bush is a fit figure of
Mary, by whom the blessing of grace is ministered to every faithful soul. It is said in
Deuteronomy: "The blessing of him, who appeared in the bush, may it come upon the
head of Joseph." Joseph is interpreted as "increase," and signifies every faithful soul
enriched by divine grace. Blessed is the bush, and blessed is He who by His Incarnation
appeared in the bush, by whom so great a blessing came upon the faithful. O truly blessed
coal, producing so blessed a flame, blessed Mary bringing forth so blessed a Child. "From
her," saith the Lord, "I will give thee a son, whom I will bless" (Gen. XVII, 16.) Think,
therefore, what great charity Mary had towards God, when God is her Son according to
the flesh. Think also what charity she had towards her neighbor, when the good neighbor
is spiritually her son. And if we are her sons, we are the brethren of her Son. Well,
therefore, doth St. Anselm say of this blessed Mother: "O blessed and exalted one, not for
thyself alone, but also for us, what is it, how great is it, how lovable, what we see
happening by thee for us, which, seeing, I rejoice, which, rejoicing, I dare not utter ? For if
thou, O Lady, art the Mother of God, are not thy other sons the brethren of God?"

Thirdly, hear how Mary is blessed for her meekness and gentleness against anger. For
the angry are accursed, as it is written in Genesis: "Cursed be their fury, for it was
stubborn: and their wrath, because it was cruel" (Gen. XLIX, 7.) Against this curse of
wrath, Mary obtained the blessing of meekness. For truly her meekness was such that not
only had she no anger of her own, but she even turned the anger of God to meekness.
Therefore, she is well signified by Abigail, to whom David said: "Blessed be thy speech,
and blessed be thou, who hast kept me to-day from coming to blood and revenging me
with my own hand" (I Kings XXV, 32.) It is the property of meekness to soothe with kind
words the anger of those who are offended, according to that word of Proverbs: "A mild
word turneth away anger" (Prov. XV, 1 .) The meek Abigail signifies the meek Mary. Do
you wish to know how meek Mary was? Listen to St. Bernard: "Turn over," he says,
"diligently in your mind the whole of the Gospel story, and if you note in Mary anything of
rebuke, anything hard, or even the slightest sign of indignation, you may perhaps suspect
her in other things, and fear to approach her. But if you find that in all things she was
rather full of grace and loving kindness, full of meekness and mercy, give thanks to Him
who with such kind compassion has provided thee with such a mediatrix, in whom thou
hast nothing to fear." David signifies Christ, who by Mary's meekness is soothed and
placated, lest He should take vengeance on the sinner by eternal death. Let every soul in
danger of eternal death never cease to sigh to Mary in her great meekness, for which she
is rightly so blessed. I say, therefore: Let every soul about to die say with St. Anselm: "O
thou blessed above women, who conquerest the angels by thy purity, surpassest the
Saints by thy loving kindness, let my dying soul sigh at the sight of such great kindness;
but let it blush at such resplendent whiteness."

Fourthly, hear how Mary is blessed by her diligence against sloth. For the slothful are
accursed, because they do not do the work of God faithfully and earnestly. Jeremias says:
"Cursed is he who doth the work of God negligently." Against the curse of torpor, Mary

deserted the blessing of earnestness. For she may be signified by that Jahel, who killed
Sisara with a nail. Therefore, in the Book of Judges it says: "Blessed is Jahel among
women." Jahel is interpreted as "going up," which suits Mary, who did not, like the slothful,
go down, but most earnestly always ascended from virtue to virtue, from a lower to a
higher grade, according to that word of the Canticle: "Who is this who cometh up from the
desert, like a rod of incense?" What has this blessed Jahel done? She killed Sisara with a
nail. Sisara is interpreted as "the shutting out of joy," and well does this signify the devil,
because he himself, being shut out from eternal joy, tries also to keep others out of it.

Alas, yes, by means of the first mother of the human race he excluded all of us, and the
curse of this exclusion was lifted by the Mother of our Savior. Well, therefore, does the
Venerable Bede say: "Blessed art thou among women, by whose virginal bringing forth the
curse of the first mother was excluded from those born of women." But what is signified by
the nail wherewith the head of Sisara was pierced? What is this nail but severity of
discipline? What is strictness of life to the lazy, but a sort of nail through the eyes?
Strictness of discipline is, as it were, a nail painfully transfixing the devil, and sharply
wounding him. The blessed Jahel, therefore, pierced the head of Sisara with that
deathdealing nail, while the blessed Mary extinguished in herself the strength of Satan by
strictness of discipline. Blessed, therefore, is Jahel among women, blessed is Mary
among women. Among which women ? Listen to Bede, who says: "Not only art thou
blessed among women, but among women who are blessed thou art eminent by a greater
blessing."

Fifthly, hear how blessed is Mary by her liberality against avarice. For the avaricious are
accursed, as St. Peter says: "Having their heart exercised with covetousness, children of
malediction" (2 Pet. II, 14. ) Against this curse of avarice, Mary merited the blessing of
generosity and profusion. For she was like a fountain ever flowing and ever giving, and
therefore was truly blessed, according to that word: "Let thy vein be blessed" (Prov. V, 18.)
In temporal things Mary, that vein, was more than generous, because she generously and
liberally despised all things. Therefore, according to Haymon, the Blessed Mother of God
had the moon beneath her feet because she despised all temporal things. Oh, how great
graces have flowed on to men by means of this vein I Therefore, O Church, thy vein be
blessed, by whom so great good gifts have come to thee. Truly a noble vein, a vein full of
the Holy Ghost, a vein the fountain of life; Mary is to us a vein of salvation. For by this vein
Christ, the fountain of life, came to us, and by this vein we come to Jesus Christ, who is
the fountain of life; truly, therefore, is it blessed. St. Bernard says: "By thee, O blessed
finder of grace, we have access to God, Mother of life, Mother of salvation, that by thee
He may receive us, who by thee was given to us."

Sixthly, hear how Mary is blessed by temperance against gluttony. For the gluttons are
accursed, as it appears in the greediness of our first parents, for which both they and the
whole human race incurred a curse. Against this curse of gluttony Mary obtained the
blessing of abstinence and of every kind of temperance. Rightly indeed, in opposition to
the curses of gluttony in the material paradise, did the blessings of temperance abound
in the spiritual paradise, according to that word of Ecclesiasticus: "Grace is like paradise in
blessings." So great an abundance of grace was in Mary that she, the gracious Virgin,
might almost be called grace itself. This grace, that is, the most gracious Virgin Mary, was

as a paradise in blessings. For as in the material paradise the gluttony of Eve merited the
curses of punishments, so in the spiritual paradise the temperance of Mary merited the
blessings of graces. Therefore Augustine says: "The curse of Eve was turned into the
blessing of Mary." As the gluttony of Eve brought forth a curse not only in the body, but
also in the soul, so Mary obtained for us a blessing not only in the body, but also in the
soul; not a spiritual blessing alone, but likewise a corporeal one. The malediction of the
greedy Eve was to bring forth in pain; the blessing of the temperate Mary was to bring
forth without pain, as St. Bernard says: "Blessed art thou among women, thou who hast
escaped that general curse, in which it is said: 'In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children,'
and yet at the same time too that other, 'Cursed is the sterile in Israel'; and thou hast
obtained a singular blessing, that thou shouldst neither remain sterile nor bring forth in
sorrow."

Seventhly, let us hear how Mary is blessed by her chastity against lust. To the lustful it is
said: "Cursed is he who shall sleep with the wife of his neighbor; and all the people shall
say, Amen." Against this curse of incontinence, Mary merited the blessing of continence,
as it may be signified in the Book of Judith, where we read: "They all blessed her with one
voice, saying: Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honor
of our people: for thou hast done manfully, and thy heart has been strengthened because
thou hast loved chastity, and after thy husband hast not known any other: therefore also
the hand of the Lord hath strengthened thee, and therefore thou shalt be blessed for ever"
(Judith XV, 10 f.)

In this blessing of the chaste Judith, the blessing of Mary may not only be signified, but by
this passage we may pass to a higher conclusion. If such was the blessing of a chaste
widow, how much more will be that of a chaste virgin? And above all, of such a virgin as
merited to bring forth God, and to do this in such a manner as not to lose her virginity.

Well therefore doth Bede say: "She is incomparably blessed, who both received the glory
of the divine seed, and kept the crown of virginity." Note, however, that in Scripture we find
a blessed wife, a blessed widow, and a blessed virgin. The blessed wife was Sara, of
whom it is said in Tobias: "A blessing was pronounced over the wife of Tobias." The
blessed widow was Judith, as we have pointed out. Of a blessed widow it is also said in
the Psalm: "Blessing I will bless his widow." And the Blessed virgin was Mary, as the
Angel testifies, saying: "Blessed art thou among women." She is blessed, therefore,
because she was a wife; she is more blessed because she was a widow; she is blessed
above all those who loved virginal chastity. She is blessed without doubt, who, like Sara
and Susanna, was chaste in wedlock; she is more blessed, who, like Judith and Anna,
was a chaste widow; she is blessed above all, who with Mary shall have been chaste as a
virgin. Therefore St. Augustine says: "We praise Susanna as a model of conjugal chastity;
but we prefer before her the virtue of the widow Anna, and much more that of the Virgin
Mary." This is truly meet and just. It is just that she should be blessed who had known no
other man than her husband; it is more just that she should be blessed who neither during
her husband's life-time nor after his death had known any man. It is meet and just that she
should be blessed above all who neither knew her own, nor any other man, yet conceived
a Man so supreme. Therefore St. Augustine exclaims: "O woman blessed above women,
who knew no man, yet encompassed a man in her womb!"

Thus, therefore, was Mary deservedly blessed for her humility, for her charity, for her
meekness, for her diligence, for her liberality, for her sobriety, for her chastity; she who
was most excellent in humility, most rich in charity, most patient in meekness, most
fervent in diligence, most temperate in sobriety, most continent in virginity. Thus,
therefore, thou who art so manifoldly blessed, thou more than blessed Mary, let us pray
that by thy blessing thou mayest free us wretched ones from every curse, and mayest
make us worthy of the divine blessing, through Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

CHAPTER XVI - WHO AND WHAT WAS THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB OF BLESSED
MARY

Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. It has been shown above how Mary, because of the
innocence of her life, is rightly saluted by the Ave; how because of the abundance of her
grace, she is called full of grace; how because of the familiar presence of God with her it is
said that the Lord is with her. We have now to show how, because of the most useful
excellence of her Child, the Fruit of her womb is called blessed. Blessed, therefore, is the
Fruit of thy womb, O Blessed Mother of the Son of God ! This is that Fruit of which the
Prophet saith: "The Lord will give benignity, and our earth will give its fruit." Commenting
on this passage, Bede says: "The Lord gave benignity, because, by the entrance of His
Only Begotten Son, He consecrated by the grace of the Holy Ghost the temple of the
virginal womb. And our earth will give its fruit, because the same Virgin, who had her body
from the earth, brought forth a Son, co-equal indeed in divinity with God the Father, but in
the reality of His Flesh consubstantial with her." We have to consider, that this Fruit is a
most well-born Fruit, a most delicious Fruit, a most virtuous and most abundant Fruit. A
Fruit, I say, most sublime in being well-born, most desirable in delight, most useful in
virtue, most universal in its abundance.

First, consider how the Fruit of the virginal womb is most well-born. It is well-born,
because it is from a regal womb; it is more well-born because it is from a virginal womb;
but it is without doubt most wellborn because it is from the paternal womb, that is, from the
womb of the Eternal Father. I say that this Fruit is well-born because it proceeds from a
regal womb, that is, from the womb of King David, as the Lord had promised him, saying
in the Psalm: "Of the fruit of thy womb I will place upon the throne." The Apostle bears
witness to this in his letter to the Romans: "Who was made from the seed of David
according to the flesh." Without doubt this Fruit is well-born and noble, not only because of
King David, but because of all those noble kings, his progenitors, by whom, according to
the genealogy described by Matthew, He came into this world, according to that word of
Wisdom: "He came from a royal throne" (Wisd. XVIII, 15.) Again, this Fruit, although it is
well-born because of the regal womb, is even more well-born because of the virginal
womb, of which it is said: "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb," of that womb which, according
to what is signified by the rod of Aaron, retained the flower of virginity together with the
fruit of fecundity. Therefore, St. Bernard says: "Christ is born of a woman, but one to
whom the fruit of fecundity came in such a manner that the flower of virginity did not fall."
This nobility of the virginal fruit, as it is more wonderful, so it is also more excellent than
the former, as far as the heavens are above the earth. O truly wonderful and unheard-of
nobility! O truly noble birth from the Virgin! "The nobility of the Child was in the virginity
which brought Him forth," says St. Augustine, "and the nobility of the parent was in the
Divinity of the Child." Again, this Fruit is well-born because of the regal womb which bore
it; more well-born because the womb was virginal; most well-born of all, because of its
fatherhood. We can understand of this Fruit that word of Osee: "From me is thy fruit found
to be" (Osee XIV, 9.3 The original text has "thy," but the Septuagint has "hers." Let God
the Father, therefore, say to Mary: let Him say to the faithful soul, let Him say to the
Church: "From Me is thy fruit." Thine, O Mary, chosen to produce this fruit; thine, O soul,
who art drawn to love this Fruit; thine, O Church, gathered together to partake of this Fruit.

Thine, without doubt in the body by the nature He assumed; thine spiritually by grace;
thine sacramentally by the Eucharist; thine eternally by glory. But it is of me that He is
thine, because He was begotten from my womb, as it is written in the Psalm: "From the
womb, before the day-star I have begotten thee." O truly wonderful and venerable nobility,
that the fruit of the maternal womb is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Wisdom of the
paternal Heart, as St. Bernard says of this Fruit: "O Mary, thou wilt be the Mother of Him
whose Father is God; the Son of the paternal love will be the crown of thy chastity; the
Wisdom of the paternal heart will be the fruit of the virginal womb." The nobility of this
most well-born fruit precedes in dignity the first and the second in an infinite degree, and
exceeds by its sublimity every intellect, both human and angelic. Well, therefore, is it said
of this fruit by Isaias: "There will be a bud of the Lord in magnificence and glory, and a
sublime fruit of the earth"; in magnificence, because of the regal dignity; in glory, because
of the virginal dignity; and it will be sublime, because of the eternal or paternal generosity.

Secondly, let us consider how the Fruit of the virginal womb is most delightful. It is
delightful in smell, more delightful in appearance, but most delightful in savor. Its beauty is
in faith, its odor in hope. We perceive its beauty by faith, its fragrance by hope, its savor
by charity. I say that the Fruit of Mary is delightful by its sweet fragrance. Therefore, the
Mother of this Fruit can well say with Ecclesiasticus: "I like a vine have borne a fruit of
sweetness of odor." The fruit of the vine is the Child of the Virgin. But what is truly
wonderful, and wonderfully true, as says St. Augustine, speaking of this fruit: "The Creator
of all things is born of a creature, a great fountain flows from a little rill, the root of all
things springs from its stem, and the true vine is the fruit of its own branch." The fruit of the
vine is wine; the smell of wine is delightful. So without doubt the fragrance of the examples
of Christ, the fragrance of the consolations of Christ, the fragrance of promises of Christ, is
most delightful to the soul that thirsts for Christ. And, therefore, as the smell of wine draws
one who thirsts, so does the odor of Christ draw one who runs and says: "Draw me after
thee," etc. That we miserable ones do not run, but creep, is a sign that we little relish the
sweet odor of this Fruit. Oh, that we had Isaac's sense of smell, who perceived the odor of
this divine fruit from such a distance; as St. Bernard says: "He perceived the fragrance of
this sweet-smelling fruit, who said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a full field,
which the Lord hath blessed." Again, this Fruit is not only delightful to the sense of smell,
but it is more delightful in beauty and fairness. Note on this point what is said in Leviticus:
"Ye shall take on the first day the fruit of the most fair tree." The first day illumining the
soul is faith. And certainly, if we ought to eat the Fruit of the most beautiful tree, that most
fair tree is Mary; fair indeed in the leaves of the words of her mouth; fairer in the flowers of
her heart; fairest of all in the most beautiful Fruit of her womb. Of which St. Bernard well
says: "If that fruit of death was not only sweet to the palate, but also, according to
Scripture, 'delightful to behold'; how much more should we seek the vivifying beauty of this
life-giving Fruit, on which the angels long to look? Christ indeed is a beautiful Fruit,
beautiful in form above the sons of men." But if we wish to appreciate more fully the
beauty of this Fruit, let us have recourse to the beautiful tree itself, let us seek that most
beautiful Mother herself, and let us speak to her that word of the Canticle: "What manner
of one is thy beloved of the beloved, O thou most beautiful of women?" And behold she
will at once answer: "My Beloved is white and ruddy, chosen from thousands." He, the
brightness of eternal light, is indeed white in His divinity, but ruddy in His humanity, white

in His life, ruddy in His Passion. Behold how beautiful is this Fruit! Well, therefore, doth St.
Augustine say of Him: "Beautiful in Heaven, beautiful on earth, beautiful as the Word in
the Father, beautiful in His Mother as the Word and as Flesh" And this most beautiful tree,
Mary, has not only the most beautiful Fruit of the womb, but also the most beautiful Fruit of
the mind. Of these fruits the Apostle, writing to the Galatians, says: "The fruit of the spirit is
charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty,
continence, and chastity." Again, this fruit is not only delightful in fragrance, and more
delightful in beauty, but it is also most delicious in savor. This was felt by that holy soul
who says: "I sat under the shadow of Him whom I desired, and His fruit was sweet to my
palate." What wonder if this Fruit is so sweet, which is also so high? For St. Bernard says:
"The higher a fruit is, the sweeter it is." Therefore, thou alone art most sweet, because
thou alone art Most High. But how can that fruit be most high, whose tree is most short?
But without doubt this tree, which is Mary, is at the same time most high and most short.
She is most high in dignity, most lowly in humility; most high in the eyes of the Lord, most
lowly in her own; although in this manner she is lowly, her fruit is nevertheless exceedingly
sweet. Therefore is it said in Ecclesiasticus: "The bee is small among flying things, but her
fruit hath the chiefest sweetness" (XI, 3.) If, therefore, the fruit of Mary is most delicious in
fragrance, in appearance, and in savor, therefore is it truly blessed, as St. Bernard
testifies, saying: "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb": blessed in smell, blessed in savor,
blessed in beauty.

Thirdly, consider that the fruit of the virginal womb is most powerful. It has great power to
save the lost, to multiply the number of those who are to be saved, and to preserve this
great number. I say that this blessed fruit is powerful to save, or powerful unto salvation,
and for this reason it is called the Fruit of salvation. Ecclesiasticus says: "The fear of the
Lord is the crown of wisdom, filling with peace and the fruit of salvation." Why does he
say, peace and fruit? The fruit of our salvation and our peace is He who maketh both one,
Jesus Christ. And certainly, the fear of the Lord did fill this fruit, this peace, as Isaias says:
"And He was filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord." Well is He called the Fruit of
salvation, without whom we have no salvation, according to that word: "There is no
salvation in any other." And St. Anselm says: "There is no salvation except Him whom
thou, O Virgin, hast brought forth." Thou, therefore, O Mary, art truly the tree of salvation,
who hast borne for the world the Fruit of salvation, as St. Bernard says: "O truly celestial
plant, more precious than all, more holy than all! O truly a tree of life, which alone was
worthy to bear the fruit of salvation!" But, alas, there are many who make this life-giving
fruit one of death; they turn this fruit, which is so sweet, so to speak, into an eternal
wormwood for themselves, as it is said in Amos: "Ye have turned judgment into bitterness,
and the fruit of justice into wormwood." Again, this fruit is exceedingly powerful, not only
with a saving power, but with a multiplying power. We could explain it well perhaps by that
word which is written, "By the fruit of their wheat, wine and oil they are multiplied," if we
say that the wheat is the Body of Christ, the oil the soul of Christ, and the wine the Divinity
of Christ. We can see in the fruit of the wheat the Sacrament of the Body of Christ, in the
fruit of the wine the Blood of Christ in the Sacrament, and in the fruit of the oil the unction
of the Holy Spirit. By this fruit sons are multiplied to the Church, and the Church is
multiplied in sons. For all the sons of the womb of the Church are the inheritance and the
fruit of the womb of Mary, as it is said in the Psalm: "Behold, the inheritance of the Lord is

sons, the fruit of the womb." Of this St. Jerome says: "The Lord Himself, born of the Virgin,
became the fruit of the womb, whose assumed humanity obtained this reward, that the
nations called to be His sons should be His inheritance." Again, this blessed fruit is
powerful not only in its salvific virtue, not only more powerful by its multiplying power, but
also most powerful by its preserving virtue. Of this fruit we may understand that word of
the Proverbs: "The fruit of the just is the tree of life." For, as the tree of life, which was in
the middle of the earthly paradise, had power to preserve the life of nature, so without
doubt the fruit of Mary's womb, which is the Tree and the Fruit of Life, in the midst of the
Paradise of the Church, preserves the life of grace; in the midst of the Paradise of the
heavenly life, preserves the life of glory. It preserves the life of grace from the corruption of
guilt, and the life of glory from the corruption of every misery, that so we may receive in
the fruit of Mary what we lost in the fruit of Adam and Eve, as Bede well says: "Blessed is
the fruit of the womb of her by whom we have received the fruit of the seed of incorruption
in the field of the eternal inheritance, which we had lost in Adam." Let, therefore, the fruit
of Mary by spiritually giving salvation, by universally multiplying those who are to be
saved, by eternally preserving those who are multiplied, be most powerful.

Fourthly, consider how the fruit of the virginal womb is most abundant. It is, in fact, so
abundant that it can abundantly refresh the soul; it is so abundant that it can suffice for all;
it is so abundant that it can never fail. In the first it is abundant; in the second it is more
abundant; in the third it is most abundant of all. I say that this blessed Fruit is so abundant
that it can refresh to satiety the rational soul, which the whole world and every creature
cannot satisfy. Therefore it is written: "Of the fruit of thy works the earth shall be filled" (Ps.
Clll, 13.) The fruit of the womb of Mary is the fruit of thy works, O Lord: indeed, of Thine,
not of human beings, not of mortals, but of Thine. Thine, O Lord, is the work of the
reparation of so much power; Thy work is the mission of Gabriel; the supervention of the
Holy Ghost is Thy work; the union of the Word with Flesh is Thy work. Of such works of
Thine, O Lord, is this fruit, because from such works proceeded this fruit, as it were from
flowers. Therefore aptly did these flowers appear in Nazareth, which is interpreted as
"flower." For St. Bernard says: "In Nazareth is it announced that Christ will be born,
because of the flower is hoped the coming of the fruit." The earth which is filled with this
fruit is human nature, which, like the earth, is ever ready to germinate either useful or
noxious plants, that is, thoughts and desires. This earth, I say, is filled with the fruit of
Mary, as is written: "I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear." What wonder if those
enjoying this fruit in glory are satisfied, when even those in misery here below are satisfied
in believing in it! Therefore Cassiodorus cries out: "Oh, that wonderful Fruit, which has
satisfied the human race in sweet belief!" Not to taste of it is to sin. See, therefore, how
abundant this Fruit is, which can satisfy the soul, which the whole world cannot satisfy.
Again, this Fruit, this blessed Fruit, is not only so abundant that it can fully refresh the
insatiable soul, but it is also so abundant that it can well suffice for the whole number of
those who are to be saved. Hence it is the fruit of that glorious tree of which it is said: "Its
fruit was exceeding much; and in it was food for all" (Dan. IV, 9), certainly for all those who
live in the Lord, those who rest and those who rise again, as it may be beautifully signified
in Leviticus, where it says: "I will give you my blessing in the sixth year, and it will bring
forth the fruit of three years" (Lev. XXV, 21 ) The sixth year signifies the sixth age, the
seventh the seventh age, and the eighth the eighth. This sixth year is the year of fullness,

according to the Apostle: "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent His Son,"
etc. This year, therefore, brought forth the Fruit, the Son of God--a Fruit so abundant, that
by it, in the sixth year of the living, in the seventh year of the dead, and in the eighth year
of those rising again, we have all the fruit of our souls. He, therefore, is the Fruit sufficing
to the universality of souls, because it is the Lord who suffices to all creatures. This indeed
is the Fruit of the womb of Mary, as St. Augustine testifies, saying: "This Virgin was
prevented and filled by a singular grace, that she might have Him for the fruit of her womb,
whom from the beginning all things had as their Lord." Again, this blessed Fruit is not only
abundant in this that it can fill to repletion all souls who are to be refreshed; it is not only
more abundant in this that it can satisfy all the souls who need to be refreshed; but it is
also most abundant in this that it can never fail in satisfying souls and angels, according to
that word of Ezechiel, "Its fruit shall not fail" (Ezech. XLVII, 12.) O infinite abundance! O
abundance which knows no defect! The abundance of this Fruit can never fail, for it is
most abundantly blessed forever. St. Bernard says: "Blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, who
is blessed forever." Thus this blessed fruit is abundant, for it refreshes unto complete
satisfaction; it is more abundant, because it suffices to the whole multitude of those who
are to be fed upon it; it is most abundant because it never fails those who feed upon it, nor
ever will for all eternity. You see now, O reader, O hearer, how exceedingly well-born, how
exceedingly delicious, how exceedingly abundant is the blessed Fruit of the womb of
Mary. You see, I say, how it is well-born because it is from a regal womb, more well-born
because it is from a virginal womb, most well-born from its paternal origin. You see also
how it is delightful in smell, more delightful in beauty, and most delightful of all in savor.
You see how powerful it is to heal, more powerful in multiplying, most powerful of all in
preserving. You see, moreover, how it is abundant to satisfy, more abundant in its
universality, most abundant in its perpetuity. These twelve conditions or qualities of this
Fruit may be signified by those twelve fruits of which it is said in the Apocalypse, that the
angel showed John a tree of life bearing twelve fruits. And because this Fruit, the Fruit of
life, the tree of life, is produced for the life of all men, therefore it is fitting and right that all
men should praise the Maker of this Fruit in the words of the Psalm: "Let all peoples praise
thee, O God, let all peoples praise thee; the earth hath given its fruit" (Ps. LXVI, 7.) O
blessed Mother of this blessed Fruit, grant us that we may enjoy this fruit forever, by the
same Fruit, Jesus Christ Our Lord, thy Son. Amen.

CHAPTER XVII - TO WHOM THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB OF THE BLESSED MARY
BELONGS, AND TO WHOM IT IS DUE

"Benedictus fructus ventris tui." After we have seen, in some small measure, of what kind
and how great the Fruit of the womb of Mary is and is believed to be, let us now see to
whom it belongs and to whom it is due. For this Fruit is not only the fruit of the womb, but
of the mind. It is the fruit of the womb of Mary alone; but it is the fruit of the mind of any
faithful soul; the fruit of the womb according to the flesh; the fruit of the mind by faith.
Therefore St. Ambrose says: "If, according to the flesh, one only is the Mother of Christ;
nevertheless, according to the mind, Christ is the fruit of all. For every soul conceives the
Word of God, if only it is immaculate and immune from vices." Therefore, according to St.
Ambrose, anyone who wishes to have this fruit of the mind, should be free from all vice.
For Christ is the fruit of the virtuous, not of the vicious mind: not of the mind vicious by the
seven deadly sins; but virtuous against the seven capital vices. Therefore, this fruit is the
fruit of the humble against pride, the fruit of those possessing fraternal love in opposition
to envy, the fruit of the meek as opposed to anger, the fruit of the diligent as against sloth,
the fruit of the liberal as opposed to avarice, the fruit of the temperate as against gluttony,
the fruit of the chaste against lust.

First, let us see how this blessed fruit is that of the humble against pride. On this we may
understand what is said in the Book of Kings: "Whatsoever shall be left of the house of
Juda, shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward" (4 Kings XIX, 30.) The Blessed
Virgin Mary was of the house of Juda, and every faithful soul is of the house of Juda; the
former in the body, the latter in spirit; the former by blood, the latter by faith. And,
therefore, not only Mary, but every faithful soul wishing to bear fruit upward, should take
root downward. The root sending its shoots downward is humility; which, after the manner
of roots, always tends to the lowest. The higher the tree, the deeper should be its root,
according to that word of Ecclesiasticus: "The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in
all things, and thou shalt find grace before God." Also, the taller a tree is, the more danger
there is of its being uprooted by the winds of elation, if the root is not firmly fixed in great
and deep humility. Let us, therefore, ponder how deeply the root of this rod was
established (in humility), which was to grow to so sublime a height that it deserved to bear
a fruit higher than the angels, that fruit indeed of which St. Ambrose says: "This fruit is the
flower of the rod, of whom Isaias says: 'There shall come forth a rod from the root of
Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from its root.' " Whatever soul shall have struck deeply
the roots of humility, shall deserve to bear fruit upward; upward, I say, in high
understanding, in high affection; upward in contemplation, upward in love. Thus this
blessed fruit is that of the humble. Therefore Mary, above all human beings, was most
worthy, because of all she was the most deeply rooted in humility. Well, therefore, doth St.
Bernard say of her: "O Virgin, rod sublime, to what a height dost thou raise thy holy
summit! Even unto the throne of majesty, because thou strikest deep down the root of
humility."

Secondly, let us see how this blessed fruit is that of those who love God and fly envy. Of
this we can understand the word of the Psalmist: "Behold the inheritance of the Lord, the
fruit of the womb." Commenting on this passage, St. Ambrose says: "The inheritance of

the Lord is sons, which reward is the fruit of Him who came forth from the womb of Mary."
Therefore, many sons are the reward of that only Son, who is the blessed fruit of the
womb. But where or when did He merit that reward? Without doubt He merited it in being
born, in lying in the manger; He merited it in bearing to be circumcised, in teaching; He
merited it in doing the works of our salvation; He merited it by dying; He merited it, I say, in
serving for us for thirty-three years. And because of this, He justly exacts this reward,
saying: "If it seems good in your eyes, bring my reward" (Zach. XI, 12.) But without doubt it
is not only sons who are the reward of the Fruit of the womb; but this Fruit of the most holy
womb is Himself the reward of every son of adoption. Who are these sons? Listen and
hear. It belongs to sons to love their father, and to the father to love his sons. Those,
therefore, are sons of God and of the Church, who ever love God and their neighbor.
Therefore, the Apostle says to the Ephesians: "Be ye imitators of Gad, as most dear
children, and walk in love." And in St. Matthew it is said: "Love your enemies, do good to
those that hate you, and pray for those that persecute and calumniate you, that you may
be the children of your Father, who is in Heaven," etc. Such sons as these, therefore, that
is to say, lovers of God and of men, are the reward of the Fruit of this blessed womb, and
the reward of sons such as these is this blessed Fruit itself. Thus, therefore, is this Fruit
that of those who love; and Mary above all men was most worthy of this Fruit, because
she was the most affectionate in charity. Well, therefore, does St. Augustine say: "Who
can doubt that all the bowels of Mary had passed into the love of charity, since within her
rested for nine months that charity which is God?"

Thirdly, let us see how this fruit of Mary is that of those who are meek and patient and
avoid anger. It is said in the Book of Job: "Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace,
and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits" (Job. XXII, 21 .) To submit and to be at peace
belongs to the meek and to the patient; and those who are meek and patient have the
best fruits by these very virtues. But the best fruit of the mind is charity, of which the
Apostle says: "Now the fruits of the Spirit," etc. The fruits which are here enumerated are
some, indeed, which are good, but there are some which are better; the first is best,
namely, charity, by which all the others, as St. Augustine says, are good. The best Fruit of
the womb is Christ: for whoever is sanctified in the womb, is the good fruit of the womb:
therefore, good is the fruit of the womb of Elizabeth-John; better is the fruit of the womb
of Anne--Mary; best is Jesus, the Fruit of the womb of Mary. Ponder, brother, who is this
fruit, and from what earth it was produced, and thou shalt see that it is the best. St.

Jerome says: "The fruit is a Virgin from a virgin, the Lord from the handmaid, God from
man, the Son from the Mother, the fruit from the earth" O happy ones, who in the
discipline of every sort of trial have a soul so patient, so just, so well prepared, that
because of this they most justly reap the fruit of patience, that most peaceful fruit of which
St. Paul says in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Now all chastisement for the present indeed
seemeth not to bring with it joy, but sorrow; but afterwards it will yield, to them that are
exercised by it, the most peaceable fruit of justice" (Heb. XII, 11) Having had their
patience tested, they reap the best fruit, according to St. Luke: "They bring forth fruit in
patience." As this blessed fruit is that of the patient and the meek, Mary above all men
was most worthy of this fruit, because she was above all most meek, so that neither in
looks, nor in word, nor in deed did she ever show the very slightest sign of impatience, but

was most patient, as St. Ambrose says: "There was nothing fierce in the looks of Mary,
nothing prolix in her words, nothing unbecoming in her deeds."

Fourthly, let us see how the fruit of Mary is that of those who labor and are diligent, and fly
sloth. Of this it is said in the Book of Wisdom: "Glorious is the fruit of good works." This
fruit, therefore, is to be sought by labor, as the bee seeks the fruit of honey; that fruit of
which Ecclesiasticus says: "Small among flying things is the bee, and her fruit has the first
sweetness." Consider, how the bee flies from garden to garden, from flower to flower, from
tree to tree, in search of the fruit of honey; so do thou in meditations, in desires, and
zealous imitation of virtues, exercise thyself about the examples of the just, and principally
of the perfect. Fly, I say, from garden to garden, that is, from state to state; run from tree
to tree, that is, from one just soul to another; from flower to flower, that is, from one virtue
to another, from one good example to another. Above all, ruminate chiefly upon that flower
in which you will find the whole fruit of the divine honey, upon that flower which is both
flower and fruit, of which St. Ambrose says: "The Flower of Mary is Christ, who, like the
fruit of a good tree, for our progress in virtue now bears fruit in us."

Note that this fruit is not of any labors whatsoever, but only of good works; it is not of
those labors of which we read in the Book of Wisdom: "He that rejecteth wisdom and
discipline, is unhappy: and their hope is vain, and their labors without fruit, and their works
unprofitable" (Wisdom III, 11.) Thus is this blessed fruit that of those who exercise
themselves in good and fly sloth. And therefore Mary above all human beings was most
worthy of this fruit, because above all she was most diligent in good, as Bede well shows,
when, in discoursing on the Magnificat, he puts these words into her mouth: "I offer the
whole affection of my soul in the praises of thanksgiving; all my life, all that I feel, all that I
discern in contemplating His magnitude, all this I employ in observing His precepts."

Fifthly, let us see how the fruit of Mary is of those who are liberal and fly avarice--
principally of those generous souls who for the sake of this fruit renounce all temporal
things, according to that word in the Canticle of Canticles: "Every man bringeth for the fruit
thereof a thousand pieces of silver" (Cant. VIII, 11.) The commentator says, "by leaving all
things." And again he says: "By 'a thousand' perfection, by 'silver' every worldly thing is
meant." Whoever, therefore, has left all worldly things for Christ, as it were gives a
thousand pieces of silver for this fruit. But he who is unwilling to give a thousand by
leaving all things, let him at least give something for this fruit, by helping the poor, that he
may be as the fruit-bearing olive by bearing the fruit of mercy. Because the highest fruit of
mercy is the highest mercy, which is God; therefore Mary, who bore this fruit of mercy
most abundantly, was most fittingly said to be like a fruit-bearing, a beautiful olive-tree in
the fields. St. John Damascene well says: "Mary, planted in the house of the Lord and
nourished by the Holy Ghost like a fruit-bearing olive-tree, became the dwelling-place of
every virtue." Alas, how far from this fruit of mercy of the merciful, and of those detached
from the love of earthly things, are the souls of the avaricious, of whom it is said: "Going
their way they are choked with the cares and the riches and pleasures of this life, and
yield no fruit" (Luke VIII, 14.) It is also said in Ecclesiastes: "He that loveth riches, shall
reap no fruit from them" (Eccles. V, 9.) Thus this blessed fruit is of the liberal and of those
who despise earthly things; and, therefore, Mary was above all most worthy of this fruit,

because she was most generous in the contempt of temporal things, as St. Bernard says:
"Whatever honor Mary had among her people, whatever she could have had of the riches
of her father's house, she esteemed it all as dung, that she might gain Christ."

Sixthly, let us see how the fruit of Mary belongs to those who are temperate, and fly
gluttony. And on this point we must note what is said by Solomon: "Of the fruit of his own
mouth shall a man be filled with good things" (Prov. XIII, 2.)

The fruit of Mary can be said to be the fruit of the mouth, because it is acquired not only by
the prayer of the lips and by teaching, but also by abstinence. With this fruit he is filled
with spiritual things who for the sake of this fruit abstains from temporal goods. He shall be
satisfied with the good things of this fruit who bears in his body hunger and thirst, but who
hungers and thirsts spiritually with more eagerness for this fruit. Therefore St. Bernard
says: "This is a good fruit, which is meat and drink to the souls who hunger and thirst after
justice." It is well for those who thirst for this fruit in the world, because they shall be
satisfied with it in Heaven, according to that word of the Savior: "Blessed are ye who thirst
now, for you shall be filled." Here the blessing is for those who abstain for the sake of this
fruit, there it will be for those who eat of this fruit. Wherefore Isaias says: "Say to the just,
that it is well; for he shall eat of the fruits of his doings" (Is. Ill, 10.) Thus this blessed fruit
is of those who are temperate and fly gluttony, and therefore Mary above all human
beings is most worthy of this fruit, for she was the most temperate and shunned gluttony.
Well, therefore, does St. John Chrysostom say: "Mary was never a great eater nor given
to wine; she was not light, nor frivolous, not a loud talker, nor a lover of evil words; these
things are always the consequence of intemperance."

Seventhly, let us see how the fruit of the womb of Mary belongs to the chaste and
continent who fly lust. Of this the Wise Man says: "Happy is the barren; and the undefiled,
that hath not known bed in sin, she shall have fruit in the visitation of holy souls" (Wisd. Ill,
13.) I say, in the visitation by grace, but more so in the visitation by glory. And truly, the
fruit of the most chaste womb, of the virginal womb, is rightly the special fruit of those who
are chaste. When, therefore, by the blessed fruit of the Virgin all the faithful in general are
blessed, rightly the chaste are specially Blessed by Him, by whom also the blessed Queen
of the chaste is blessed above all, as St. Bernard says: "Truly blessed is the Fruit of thy
womb, in whom all nations are blessed: of whose fullness thou, too, hast received with the
rest, and also differently from the rest." Woe to the lustful, who have no part in the virginal
fruit: woe to the wretched, who have no branch which can bear a virginal fruit. Therefore is
it said of the adulterous woman: "Her branches will not bear fruit" (Eccli. XXIII, 35.)
Therefore does this blessed fruit belong to the chaste, who fly lust. And therefore Mary
was above all worthy of this fruit, because she was most chaste, as St. Chrysostom well
says: "O ineffable praise of Mary, Joseph trusted more to her chastity than to her womb,
and more to grace than to nature; he rather believed it possible for a woman to conceive
without a man, than that Mary could sin." O Mary most happy, who truly, as the most
virtuous one, wast most worthy of the divine fruit, help us, that by our virtues we may be
worthy to attain to this fruit, Our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son. Amen.

CHAPTER XVIII - TO WHOM THE RESULTS OF THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB OF
MARY ARE NECESSARY, AND OF ITS TWELVE ADVANTAGES

Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. We have seen of what nature and quality the blessed fruit
of the womb of Mary was; we have also seen to whom it rightfully belongs; we must now
see to whom and to what effects it is needful. For this fruit is a remedy against evil, and it
is necessary for good. It is necessary in six of its effects as a remedy against evil; and it is
necessary in six other effects for the attainment of good. For this blessed fruit has twelve
very useful effects, or remarkable advantages, on account of which all men rightly praise
its effects, according to what is written in the Psalm: "Let all peoples praise thee, O God,
let all peoples praise thee: the earth has given her fruit" (Ps. LXVII.) The first effect of this
fruit is the expiation of mortal sin; the second is the pacification of the supreme enmity; the
third is the healing of the wound of original sin; the fourth is the satisfying of the hunger of
the mind; the fifth is the avoidance of the anger of the Judge; the sixth is deliverance from
the pains of hell; the seventh is the renunciation of temporal goods; the eighth is the
enrichment of the rational soul; the ninth is the consummation of the spiritual life; the tenth
is the multiplication of the universal Church; the eleventh is the reintegration of the
empyreal ruin; the twelfth is the perpetuation of eternal glory.

First, therefore, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the expiation of mortal sin. Of
this we can understand what is said in Isaias: "This is the whole fruit, that sin may be
taken away" (Is. XXVII, 9.) By the whole fruit we may understand Him of whom St.

Bernard says: "On the cross hangs all the fruit of life, because the tree of life itself is in the
midst of Paradise." All the fruit, therefore, is the whole fruit, the whole of Him. This Fruit
was given, born, and suffered that the sin of man might be taken away. For, as the Angel
said: "He hath saved His people from their sins." He also is the one of whom John spoke:
"Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world!" This Lamb truly takes
away the sins of the world, both mortal and venial. He who by this fruit is purged from
mortal sins, may also be cleansed from venial sins, according to the word: "Every one who
beareth fruit, He will purge, that he may bring forth more fruit."

Secondly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for t-he removal of the mortal enmity
which existed between God and man, between angels and men. Isaias says: "I created
the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near" (Is. LVII,

19.) The fruit of the womb of Mary may well be called the fruit of the lips of Mary, because
while from her lips distilled the honey-flowing words, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be
it done unto me according to thy word," she immediately conceived her most sweet Fruit.

O truly honeyflowing lips, as it is said in the Canticle: "Thy lips are as the dropping
honeycomb." It was God the Father who created this fruit, which is Our Lord Jesus Christ,
or who made (in Him) peace; peace, I say, to him who is afar, by guilt, that he may
become near by grace, and peace to him who is near by grace, lest he should be made
far by guilt. For He, as the Apostle says, is "our peace, who maketh both one." This fruit
also was made peace between man, who is far distant in this world, and the angel, who in
Heaven is near; for Christ made peace with both on the gibbet of the Cross, according to
the word of the Apostle: "Making peace by the blood of his Cross, both those things which
are in Heaven and those which are on earth." Therefore, this fruit is peace from man to

man, peace from man to the angel, and peace between God and man. What wonder if by
this fruit man has peace with God, when He Himself, the peace-giving Fruit, is both God
and man? Bede gives testimony to this, saying: "Our earth will give its fruit, because the
Virgin Mary, who had her body from the earth, brought forth a Son in divinity indeed, co-
equal with the Father, but consubstantial with herself in the reality of His flesh."

Thirdly, this blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the healing of the wound of original sin;
for man, falling among thieves, was wounded with a grievous wound, nay, many grievous
wounds, while by original sin he became so blind to the truth, so infirm in good, so prone
to evil. But these wounds are healed by this fruit. In this life indeed they are only partially
healed by grace; but in the future life they will be entirely healed in glory. Therefore, well is
it said in the Apocalypse: "The Angel showed John the tree of life, bearing its fruits every
month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of nations." The tree of life is Mary,
the Mother of Life; or the tree of life is the tree of the Cross; or else the tree is Jesus
Christ, the Author of Life, who is also the Fruit of Life. Those healing leaves are edifying
words and deeds. If even the leaves are healing, how much more healing and life-giving is
the fruit? Therefore, that we may be healed by this fruit, let us approach its tree; let us
draw near, I say, to Mary. Let us pray with St. Anselm: "Hear me, O Lady! Heal the soul of
thy servant who is a sinner, by virtue of the blessed Fruit of thy womb, who sitteth at the
right hand of his Almighty Father."

Fourthly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the relief of hunger, or the famine of the
soul, lest for want of due nourishment the animals of God should perish. Therefore it is
well said by the Prophet Joel: "Fear not, animals of the region, for the beautiful places of
the desert have blossomed, and the tree has brought forth its fruit." It is a desert or a
wilderness because it germinates without culture, and brings forth food for animals. This
desert may signify Mary, who without marital culture brought forth a Son, who is the food
of all the faithful. Therefore it can be said of her: "That earth is uncultivated, it has become
as a garden of pleasure" (Ezech. XXXVI, 35.) The beautiful blooms of this uncultured
earth are the flowers of heavenly desires, the grasses of good works, the fair flowers of
virtues and gifts, the lovely leaves of useful words, and the truly beautiful fruit of Mary's
womb, which is the food of all the just. Mary is this beautiful desert. Mary is also this
fruitful tree, of which it is said: "And the tree brought forth its fruit" (Joel II, 22.) Oh, truly
wonderful fruit, by which both the hunger and the thirst of souls is relieved, as St. Bernard
says: "Good Fruit, which is food and drink to hungering and thirsting souls." Do not fear,
therefore, animals of God; fear not, ye faithful of Christ, that you will perish from want of
food, because you have full pasture in the desert, full fruit on the tree, full food in the
manger." For St. Bernard says: "The Child lies in the manger, that all the faithful--as it
were, the beasts of burden -may find refreshment for their flesh." St. Augustine says: "O
resplendent manger, in which has lain the food of animals, but also the food of angels!”

Fifthly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the avoidance of the anger of the Judge,
which every unjust man has to fear, in the same way as every just man has by right that
by which he may escape the anger of the Judge. Therefore it is said in the Psalm: "If
indeed there is fruit to the just, God indeed judging them on earth," etc. "Them," that is,
the unjust, for God will judge the unjust upon earth, while at the judgment the just will be in

the air, but the unjust will remain upon the earth, because they preferred to cleave to
earthly things instead of God, so that they could truly say: "My soul hath cleaved to the
pavement." There the Lord will be indeed a sweet fruit to the just, but to the unjust and
wicked he will be a severe judge. Woe, therefore, to them who turn so sweet a fruit into a
most bitter judgment for themselves, as it is said in Amos: "You have turned judgment into
bitterness, and the fruit of justice into wormwood", (Amos VI, 13.) The fruit of justice is the
fruit of the just. Just is the fruit of Mary, of whom the Psalmist truly says: "The just has
borne fruit. The earth is the virgin, because truth has sprung forth from the earth."

Sixthly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the avoidance of the pains of hell, or
eternal death, on which we can say that which we find in the fourth of Kings: "I will take
you away to ... a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land
of olives, and oil and honey, and you shall live, and not die" (4 Kings XVIII, 32.) All those
who will be converted to her with their whole heart shall be taken away into the land of
Mary, or the land of the Church. This land is exceedingly fertile, bearing fruit of bread,
wine, oil, and honey, that is, Our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is to us the fruit of bread which
strengthens, and puts to flight defect or failure; He is to us the fruit of the vine, for all
perfection; He is to us the fruit of oil, illuminating the intellect; and He is moreover to us the
fruit of honey, instilling sweetness into our affections. By this fruit ye shall truly live, dearly
beloved, and ye shall not die. Blessed is the earth of this fruit; blessed above all be this
fruit itself, by whom we are delivered from so many evils, as St. Anselm well says: "What
praise shall I give that is worthy of the Mother of my Lord and God, by whose fecundity I, a
captive, have been redeemed, by whose Child I am delivered from eternal death, by
whose offspring I, a lost one, am restored, and led back from exile to my fatherland?"
Blessed among women, all these things Christ, the blessed fruit of her womb, has given
me in the regeneration of Baptism. Woe, therefore, to all those who are estranged from
this fruit, for it is written: "Every tree, that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down
and cast into the fire."

Seventhly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the renunciation or contempt of
earthly goods. Therefore, it is said in the Canticle: "A man shall give for this fruit a
thousand silver pieces," namely, leave all things. For, as the Gloss says, a thousand
means perfection, and silver means all worldly substance. Therefore, anyone who
perfectly renounces all earthly riches for Christ's sake, gives as it were a thousand silver
pieces for this fruit, and rightly does he despise for the sake of this fruit all temporal things
whoever diligently marks how exceedingly precious is this fruit, saying that word of the
Proverbs: "My fruit is better than gold and precious stones, and my jewels than chosen
gold" (Prov. XVIII, 20.) He is truly a man who has such virility as this; and this man ought
manfully, for the sake of this fruit, to contemn not only possessions and riches, but also
honors and dignities, saying: "Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious fruits, and go
to be promoted among the other trees?" (Judges IX, 11.) Most sweet are the fruits of
Christ, and charity. The trees of the wood, says the Gloss, are barren men, prepared for
the eternal fire.

Therefore, for the sake of these most sweet fruits he manfully contemns most dangerous
honors which promote him above the trees of the wood; he manfully contemns all things
for the sake of this blessed fruit, which is blessed above all, God forever.

Eighthly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the enrichment of the rational soul. It is
said in Proverbs: "Each one shall be filled with the fruits of his mouth" (Prov. XVIII, 20.)

We confess that the Lord Jesus is truly not only the fruit of the womb, but also the fruit of
the lips, because we obtain Him by the preaching of the mouth or lips, by the praise of the
lips, and by the prayer of the lips. With the external mouth we receive Him sacramentally,
with the inward mouth we receive Him spiritually. Therefore St. Jerome says: "The Flower
of Mary became fruit, that we might eat of it." With this fruit of the lips each one shall be
filled with the goods of spiritual riches, the goods, I say, of virtues and graces. Of such
goods the Apostle says: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Ghost." O truly blessed fullness
of this fruit, with which was filled not only the field of the Virgin which produced it, but also
the soul of every faithful Christian who contains it, as is manifest by what St. Jerome says:
"Truly is she called a full field, for the Virgin Mary is said to be full, from whose womb the
Fruit of life came forth to believers, and all of us of His fullness have received grace for
grace."

Ninthly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the perfection of the spiritual life.
Therefore it is well said in the Psalm of the perfect man: "And he shall be like a tree
planted by the running waters," etc. What should we understand by the running waters but
the streams of grace, by which man gives or produces his fruit, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Three conditions of a perfect life are signified which accompany the man who has this
fruit. It belongs to the perfect not to waste their time, therefore it is well said: "It will give its
fruit in its time." It is also a sign of perfection nor to overflow in useless words, which we
understand to be signified in the words, "and his leaf shall not fall off." It is also a
characteristic of perfection not to omit those things which are profitable to the soul; hence
we find, "and all that he shall do shall prosper." Truly anyone who shall bear this fruit by
charity shall find all things prosperous, for all things will work together unto good for him,
as it is written: "We know that for those who love God, all things work together unto good."
Blessed is the man who shall have borne this fruit so perfectly that he shall not pass his
time uselessly, that he shall utter no idle word, that he shall let no opportunity of virtue
pass, and so he shall be like the tree bearing fruit spiritually, as Mary did corporeally, of
whom St. Bernard says: "O truly the tree of life, which alone was worthy to bear the fruit of
salvation!"

Tenthly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the multiplication of the universal
Church. Therefore is it said: "With the fruit of her hands she hath planted a vineyard"

(Prov. XXXI, 16.) The Lord Jesus, as He is well said to be the fruit of the womb, because
He was conceived in the womb, and as He is well said to be the fruit of the lips, because
He is received in the mouth-so also is well said to be the fruit of the hands, because He is
acquired by the labor of the hands in good works, and is ministered to the faithful by the
hands of the priest. Therefore, this fruit is most fully the fruit of Mary: it is truly the fruit of
her womb, because He was born in a most singular way from her womb. He is also the

fruit of her mouth, because by her mouth He was most sweetly communicated. He is also
the fruit of her hands, because by her hands He was most devoutly handled. Of this fruit of
her hands, Mary, or the primitive Church, planted a vineyard, that is, the universal Church,
which is diffused throughout the world. Oh, how the branches of this vine, that is, the
faithful members of the Church, have been multiplied by this fruit, while the rulers of the
Church have caused this fruit to be spiritually born in the hearts of the faithful! Hence it is
well said in the Psalm: "They yielded fruit of birth, and He blessed them, and they were
multiplied exceedingly" (Ps. CVI, 37-38.) And because the Church in all ages has been
multiplied by this fruit, therefore, the Virgin producing this fruit is rightly called blessed by
all generations. As she herself well says: "Behold from henceforth all generations shall call
me blessed." St. Bernard explains these words as follows: "Behold I see what is to come
to pass in me, what fruit shall come forth from me, how great and how many good things
will come to pass, by means of me, not to me alone, but to all generations."

Eleventhly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the restoration of the empyreal ruin,
the ruin, I say, brought about in the high Heaven. On this we may note what the Lord,
wishing to plant of the marrow of a high cedar, said: "On the high mountains of Israel I will
plant it, and it shall shoot forth into branches, and shall bear fruit" (Ezech. XVII, 23) The
high mountain is that sublime mansion, that sublime society of angels, which is well called
the high mountain of Israel, because Israel is interpreted "the vision of God." And behold
the angels always see God, as we find in the Gospel of St. Matthew: "Their angels always
see the face of My Father, who is in heaven." On this high mountain, in this sublime
society of angels, God planted that which He had chosen from the mass of perdition; He
planted, I say, the marrow of a cedar, the marrow of the human race, that is, all the elect,
of whom some, in reality, some in hope, are already planted on the angelic mountain. O
fruit, truly to be loved above all things, on whose account every elect soul is planted on so
sublime a height! We must joyfully bear this fruit, Our Lord Jesus Christ, for whose sake
we are already planted in hope among the angels. Let us always give thanks to this fruit
by whose grace we fill up the number of the angels. Therefore Mary, the Mother of this
fruit, may well glory, and utter those words which St. Bernard, speaking as it were by her
lips, says: "The number of the generations of the angels is by my Child filled up, restored,
and the race of men, cursed in Adam, by the blessed fruit of my womb is regenerated unto
eternal blessedness."

Twelfthly, the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary for the perpetuation of eternal glory, which
would not be eternal, unless it was preserved by this fruit. Therefore, is it said in Proverbs:
"The fruit of the just is a tree of life." Excellently is this fruit said to be a tree of life,
because as the tree of life was to preserve the natural life in the terrestrial Paradise, so
Christ is to preserve eternal life in the heavenly Paradise. St. Anselm notes all the good
things which we obtain through the blessed fruit of Mary, and says: "All these good things
came from the blessed fruit of the blessed womb of the Blessed Mary."

Thus you have heard how the blessed fruit of Mary is necessary, first, to expiate mortal
sin; secondly, to placate the supreme enmity between God and man; thirdly, to heal the
wound of original sin; fourthly, to relieve spiritual obstinacy; fifthly, to appease the anger of
the Judge; sixthly, to escape the pains of hell; seventhly, to obtain the grace to despise

earthly things; eighthly, to enrich the rational soul; ninthly, to consummate the spiritual life;
tenthly, to multiply the universal Church; eleventhly, to repair the empyreal ruin; twelfthly,
to preserve eternal glory. And behold, these twelve effects or advantages of this fruit may
be signified by the twelve fruits of the tree of life, all of which are in the fruit of Mary's
womb. Of which twelve fruits we read in the Apocalypse, that the Angel showed John the
tree of life, bearing twelve fruits.

Help us, therefore, O blessed among women, that by the fruit of thy womb we may obtain
the blessing of these twelve fruits. Help us, O fruitful Virgin, that by thy fruit we may be
made fruitful in these fruits; that by these fruits we may merit to enjoy thy fruit forever!

Help us, O sweetest one, that Jesus may grant us to enjoy His sweetness, He, the most
liberal communicator of the blessed fruit of thy womb, who with the Father and the Holy
Ghost liveth and reigneth world without end. Amen.

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